ONDC helps rickshaws to compete with Ola, Uber in Bengaluru; plans nationwide expansion

US-based e-commerce giant Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart have been slammed by the Indian Commerce Minister for hurting small Indian traders. India's trader body CAIT even endorsed an article by an RSS magazine comparing Amazon to the British East India Company.

An Open Network for Digital Commerce launched to help small businesses compete with e-commerce giants, has now entered the ride hailing space with Bengaluru's Namma Yatri.

Accelerating push into mobility

The rickshaw booking app which helps auto drivers take on Ola and Uber, can now reach passengers through the ONDC.

But it plans to go beyond Bengaluru, and is in talks for similar smaller ride hailing platforms in other cities.

ONDC will open up the mobility space, by offering metro, bus, taxi and rickshaw services for cities on a single platform.

How does ONDC change things?

Developed with help from Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, ONDC opens a virtual marketplace where individual vendors, kirana store owners and rickshaw drivers can display services and products.

As small traders get to market their offerings independently on an open protocol, it can break possible duopolies such as Amazon-Flipkart and Uber-Ola.

It has been created and launched by the Indian government's department for promotion of trade and industry.

How have local players fared so far?

Bengaluru's Namma Yatri currently connects passengers to 45,000 auto rickshaw drivers, and was launched by payment processing firm Juspay.

Years before Namma Yatri hit the roads, Mumbai's iconic kaali peeli cab drivers had also launched their own app Aamchi Drive to rival ride aggregators.