He said 100,000 cab rides are taking place through ONDC every day in four cities—Bengaluru, Mysore, Cochin and Kolkata. Koshi said in an interview that sellers can easily register at ONDC and upload the catalogue of their products for free, which is not possible with other e-commerce players.

The growing volume of transactions in ONDC, according to analysts, could disrupt the e-commerce space.

The one-year-old institution in the e-commerce marketplace has recorded a significant performance with transaction volumes in the network, Koshy said.

“It was started with just 800 retail sellers and now increased to 228,000 sellers and service providers, out of which 133,000 are mobility service providers and 94,000 are retailers. There are over 32 million products available on the ONDC network,” said Koshy.

As per an assessment by ONDC, it will be able to make 1.2 billion transactions by 2027.

Through ONDC, India is reimagining digital commerce, making it democratic and equitable with a digital public infrastructure for population-scale transformation, he said.

As of now, ONDC subscription is free and open to all without any barrier, but eventually, it may levy a marginal user-fee.

Among the major players to have joined ONDC to capitalize their business models are Paytm, Ola, ITC, Sleepy Owl, Boat, Swiggy, Zomato, India Post and several small aggregators.

ONDC started with grocery and consumer goods, before expanding to include food and beverages, and mobility. It has now expanded its catalogue by introducing home and kitchen services, agriculture business-to-consumer products, beauty and personal care, fashion and apparel, electronics and appliances, health and wellness, financial products, etc.

Koshy said that sellers can register at ONDC and upload the catalogue of their products for free, which is not possible with current online shopping giants as they create a proprietary platform which is controlled by them.

ONDC is working to create an open network to make digital commerce more democratic so that everybody will have equal opportunity.

On investment requirement, Koshy said it is the service providers enrolled with ONDC that will invest on infrastructure and capacity building.

“They will do it to increase their buyer and seller base,” he said.

On fixing accountability, he clarified that it will be the responsibility of the service provider to handle all grievances relating to lapses in service delivery, refund for failed delivery, etc.

Koshy said ONDC has no hidden interests. “We want a broader participation like the UPI that has became a successful model by transforming banking transactions. It all happened due to digital public infrastructure,” he said.

ONDC is neither an application nor a software— it is a network for digital commerce with a mandate to bring all channel partners onto a single network for commuters to access and use the partners’ services.

As of now, it is present in about 600 cities and has 80 service providers registered with it.