Amazon’s vision and commitment to India are closely aligned with ONDC’s goal of digitally supporting small businesses and providing convenience and choice to customers across the country.
E-commerce giant Amazon announced on Friday that it will join the Indian government’s ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) platform as part of its initial collaboration to integrate its smart commerce and logistics services into the ONDC network.
Amazon’s logistics services include pickup and delivery, while Smart Commerce is a suite of SaaS (software as a service) offerings hosted on AWS that can help MSMEs build and scale their businesses and to integrate them into the ONDC network. Amazon said it will continue to explore opportunities for closer integration with the ONDC network.
ONDC is a non-profit organization created by the Department of Industry and Promotion of Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Ministry of Commerce to democratize e-commerce services and level the playing field for small retail stores. e-commerce and online sellers.
“Amazon’s vision and commitment for India are closely aligned with ONDC’s objectives of digitally enabling small businesses and providing convenience and choice to customers across the country,” said Manish Tiwary, country manager, of India Consumer Business, at Amazon India.
Tiwary added that Amazon is pleased to provide its infrastructure and technology to help ONDC achieve its goals faster. The ONDC network is currently in the test phase and has been tested in some cities.
“We are happy that Amazon has a definite roadmap to being a part of the ONDC network and is taking its first step in coming in as the logistics partner in the ONDC network,” said T Koshy, managing director, and chief executive of ONDC
The ONDC network protocol allows anyone to create an e-commerce marketplace and use the ONDC network to display and deliver products without worrying about logistics. It also equates to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which makes online payments faster and easier for millions of Indians.
In August 2022, NDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Small Industries and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to integrate its vast ecosystem of MSMEs into the network. Several companies have already joined the platform, including Microsoft, Meesho, Paytm, and Dunzo. Flipkart, PhonePe, and JioMart also plan to join the network.
At the inauguration of ONDC’s first office in New Delhi last December, Koshy said the network had 26 partners and planned to add 125 more by February. Another 200 platforms are undergoing technical integration with ONDC, while more than 400 buyers, sellers, and logistics partners are in the paperwork phase, he added. Koshy told Mint that ONDC will charge the platform a small fee to maintain and grow the network.
