Ola Joins ONDC For Food Delivery Services The company has been testing the feature within its app, for employees and a few users, for more than a month, says a news report quoting sources
By S Shanthi
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According to a news report, Ola has joined the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to provide food delivery services. The company has been testing the feature for over a month within its app for employees and a few users under the name 'Ola ONDC food', said a Moneycontrol report, quoting sources.
"This is big for Ola, this is likely to compete with Swiggy and others... This feature is not available for everyone, only a handful of users for now and is likely to be open for all, " said the report quoting an industry source aware of the development.
In another development, Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola is considering appointing a CEO for its cab business, reported Economic Times. The new CEO, may reportedly join the company early next week.
Coming back to the reports on Ola joining ONDC to provide food delivery services, ONDC is an initiative by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to offer a network that allows the display of products and services from all participating e-commerce platforms in search results across all apps on the network.
Recent developments at ONDC
In May, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the network plays a transformative role in democratizing the country's existing e-commerce ecosystem. He said that ONDC is an engine of growth with the potential to redefine the entire industry.
Further, according to a whitepaper released by Deloitte India on Thursday, ONDC will be a pivotal force enhancing the digital commerce sector in the country, which is projected to touch $350 billion by 2030.
Many startups and legacy companies have been joining the network in the recent past. Recently, snacks and beverages conglomerate PepsiCo India joined it and said that the partnership will enable the discoverability of the company's product portfolio by buyers and help in extending customer outreach through the diverse array of ONDC-affiliated seller applications. Another company to join the bandwagon is the gifting brand Ferns N Petals.
The company also recently announced that 50,000 restaurants across 172 cities are now live for online ordering on its network. The number of restaurants increased from 500 in February 2023 to 50,000 in August 2023. "What started with our first order in Sept' 22, the Network has onboarded over 50,000 restaurants till now! As we continue to grow and expand, we are excited about the future of online food delivery in the all-new no-barrier e-commerce ecosystem and our role in shaping it," said T Koshy, MD and CEO of ONDC.
