After e-commerce, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has now forayed into mobility space by onboarding Bengaluru-based auto booking app 'Namma Yatri'.

ONDC is backed by the government and has been set up to democratise the country's digital commerce space.

The 'Namma Yatri' app has around 45,000 drivers and 4.5 lakh customers and recently became 100 percent open, inviting citizens' collective participation. The app currently records nearly 1 lakh weekly trips and aims to grow further by joining the ONDC network.

The open mobility initiative of ONDC is likely to benefit customers by enabling them to book rides from their favourite apps and integrating various modes of transportation, including metro, auto, and buses.

Namma Yatri, which was launched by Juspay Technologies in partnership with Bengaluru drivers, allows drivers to offer their services directly to customers with zero commission.

ONDC CEO T Koshy expressed his excitement at the new addition to the open network, saying "It increases customer convenience by digitizing and integrating all mobility services. Then, it provides equal opportunities to mobility players of all sizes and between existing and new players".

"We are looking at both taxis and autos to be on the open mobility network. I believe eventually all existing platforms find it relevant to be a part of ONDC. We've had some conversations with Ola and Uber for joining ONDC, but nothing firmed up yet," Koshy told CNBC-TV18.

Juspay's CEO and Founder, Vimal Kumar, said that ONDC's open innovation and problem-solving principles aligned with Namma Yatri's vision of enabling service providers with open and cost-effective tech products that are customer-centric.

ONDC is a non-profit entity created by the government in December 2021 to address the domination of the online commerce business by a few players, enabling small players from neighbourhood kirana (grocery) shops to rural cooperatives to micro and small industries to find new — hopefully all-India — markets for their products and services.

A number of technology players have joined the ONDC since its launch and are offering their expertise especially to potential MSME sellers.

They include Magicpin which links shopping to buyer savings for local retailers; Zoho which offers its e-commerce platform to help businesses create online stores and DBS Bank which in partnership with e-Samudaay, a Software as a Service (SaaS) player, helps MSMEs get onboard ONDC.

The fashion-focussed online seller Meesho has fully integrated its app with ONDC and others can be expected to follow suit — which is the whole reason for creating the ‘open’ platform.

MyStore is today the only ONDC app that serves both buyer and seller.

In February, Amazon, one of the leading e-commerce player in India, announced that it would integrate its logistics network (from pickup to delivery), as well as, its SmartCommerce services for small businesses with the ONDC network, to build and scale their business across digital mediums.

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