As per the order of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has set up a 9-member Advisory Council to advise the government on measures needed to design and fasten the adoption of ‘Open Network for Digital Commerce’ (ONDC).
Key points:
i.ONDC is a project initiated by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to promote open networks development on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and network protocols independent of any specific platform.
ii.The project is assigned to the Quality Council of India (QCI) by DPIIT.
iii.It is envisaged to bring together all of India’s e-commerce marketplaces on a single network and intend to create a domain for e-commerce in India as there is no separate category for e-Commerce companies as per the Income-Tax Act, 1961.
iv.The project will also digitize the entire value chain, promote inclusion of suppliers, standardize operations, derive efficiencies in logistics, and enhance value for consumers.
v.Members of the Advisory Council:
- Nandan M. Nilekani, non-executive Chairman, Infosys
- Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI and Capacity Building Commission
- R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority
- Anjali Bansal, Founder & Chairperson, Avaana Capital
- Arvind Gupta, Co-founder & Head, Digital India Foundation
- Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)
- Suresh Sethi, MD & CEO, NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited)
- Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders)
- Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI (Retailers Association of India)
vi.Shailendra Singh, Additional Secretary (ITeC), DPIIT has been appointed as the convener of the Advisory Council.
vi.Recent Initiative: In June 2021, the consumer affairs ministry released the draft e-commerce policy consumer protection Act. It proposed regulations to ban the ‘flash sales’ of goods and services by e-commerce players; it might bring changes to the operations of players like Amazon and Flipkart.
Recent Related News:
According to a report ‘India Trend Book 2021’ released by EY-IVCA (Ernst Young-Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association), India’s e-commerce market is expected to be worth USD 99 Billion by 2024. It is also anticipated to grow at a 27% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the period 2019-24.
About Quality Council of India (QCI):
It is an autonomous non-profit body set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to establish and operate national accreditation structures and promote quality.
Headquarters – New Delhi
Chairperson – Adil Zainulbhai
CEO – Rajesh Maheshwari
About Ministry of Commerce & Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Vedprakash Goyal (Maharashtra)
Minister of State – Hardeep Singh Puri (Uttar Pradesh), Som Parkash (Hoshiarpur, Punjab)
