ONDC ‘empowering small businesses and revolutionising e-commerce,’ says PM Modi

ONDC empowers small businesses, revolutionizes e-commerce, and challenges Big Tech firms, endorsed by PM Modi and Commerce Minister Goyal.

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) “has contributed to empowering small businesses and revolutionising e-commerce, thus playing a vital role in furthering growth and prosperity,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday, January 2, 2025.

The ONDC is a government-supported network that unbundles the product discovery, seller, and logistics components of an e-commerce transaction to combat platformisation prominent among Big Tech firms. The network has been used for food delivery, e-retail ordering, and most prominently, for hailing cab and auto rides as an alternative to Uber and Ola.

“Over the past 3 years, [ONDC] has not only achieved numerous milestones but also empowered businesses, especially small enterprises, by creating a level playing field for them on the network,” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on X, eliciting Mr. Modi’s praise for the network.

While some food delivery, e-commerce and cab-hailing platforms have signed up for ONDC, along with logistics partners and app discovery platforms, some established platforms have not yet been on-boarded. These include event and movie ticketing platforms like BookMyShow, and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which exercise exclusivity in distribution of travel and event reservations, with relatively high digital service fees. A top ONDC official had said last year that efforts were on to convince players like these to join the network.