Piyush Goyal: ONDC will help small retailers survive Ecomm onslaught: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Open network for digital commerce (ONDC) will help small retailers survive the onslaught of large tech-based ecommerce companies, union minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

“Our effort will be to encourage more and more startups and small companies even at the local level who will get the small retail integrated into the ecommerce ecosystem,” Goyal, who is minister for commerce and industry, consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and textiles, said at FICCI’s annual event for retail, FMCG and e-commerce. “And just like UPI was able to democratise payment systems, we do hope ONDC will play its role in democratising or socialising the benefits of e-commerce to the people at large.”

ONDC is the commerce and industry ministry’s initiative to help small retailers counter the dominance of ecommerce giants. Consumers can potentially discover any seller, product or service by using any ONDC-compatible application or platform.

According to Goyal, the quality of consumer products in the country, including FMCG, tends to suffer because of “indiscriminate low-quality imports”. “As long as we do not recognise the importance of quality in our country, we will not be able to stop this influx of low-quality products,” Goyal said.