In e-commerce space, we have players like Amazon and Flipkart. So far there is no full-fledged e-commerce policy. However, the sector is governed by rules framed by various departments such as consumer protection, competition, FDI and IT.

An e-commerce entity means any person who owns, operates, or manages digital or electronic facility or platform for electronic commerce. Mostly, India has followed the marketplace model where the inventory is owned by the sellers on board , and e-commerce platform just facilitates a transaction. It is thus an information technology platform on a digital or electronic network to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers. The marketplace ensures that sellers provide products as per specifications and this information about the sellers is provided to the buyers so as to enable them to take an informed decision.

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) wants to transform this sector from being platform-centric to an open network. It is akin to UPI transactions. It wants to democratise ecommerce. It is an intiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

It does not envisage a centralised platform. There will be buyer-side apps where consumers search for products. There will be seller-side apps which will onboard sellers. A buyer searches a product on buyer-app. It is multi-cast to all seller apps on criteria such as location, availability and other preferences. The buyer then chooses a seller.

ONDC does not expect you to deal with a single entity. It unbundles different services from a number of sellers. The logistics provider could also be a different entity. The concept is not restricted to the retail sector but can be extended, say to wholesale, mobility, food delivery, logistics, travel, urban services etc.

There is going to be seller appraisal in terms of the compliant products offered. This will be available to buyers.

There is a gateway between the buyer-side and seller-side app.

Whose liability is it for the product quality? How to deal with cancellations and returns? How to resolve consumer disputes? There should a system to assign proportional accountability.

There are issues about data privacy. The information is not shared at the ordering and filling stage. Only on order confirmation, the information is shared. It is exactly this leg that does not go through the gateway. There could be search packet encryption if needed. The system uses open API’s.

The big players of ecommerce could be roped in to participate in ONDC.

The government is working on rules to make it compulsory for ecommerce firms to show search results of several sellers, instead of just focusing on preferred sellers. It is called algorithmic fairness. The government wants to restrict ecommerce companies from sharing consumers’ buying behaviour with anyone. The idea is to make algorithms democratic for the consumers. These rules will be a part of the ONDC framework. These will apply to existing players in ecommerce too. The proposed framework seeks to control digital monopolies and create more inclusiveness within the digital ecosystem.