ONDC To Focus On Expanding Open Mobility In Bengaluru, Onboards Namma Yatri

Following its launch in Bengaluru, ONDC looks to offer the open mobility service in other cities as well, offering mobility solutions charging zero commission to customers.  

The Namma Yatri application was launched as a corporate social responsibility initiative by fintech platform Juspay Technologies, in a market dominated by large ride-hailing players like Uber, Ola, and Rapido. It claims to clock about 1 lakh weekly trips currently, aiming to further amplify its reach after its integration with ONDC. 

 “An open mobility network on ONDC will build a large ecosystem of customers and service providers, fuelling many innovations & possibilities. First, it increases customer convenience by digitising and integrating all mobility services. Then, it provides equal opportunities to mobility players of all sizes and between existing and new players," said T Koshy, ONDC’s chief executive, adding, “it amplifies the impact and the leverage of public transportation systems. What UPI and NPCI did to digital payments, ONDC intends to do for mobility." 

The Namma Yatri platform estimates about 4.5 lakh users and nearly 45,000 auto-rickshaw service providers in Bengaluru. With its onboarding on ONDC, the ride hailing app is now an open-source platform, allowing citizens to collaborate in the application’s development. 

ONDC is a non-profit company set up by the commerce ministry to create a model that democratizes digital commerce, and focuses on small merchants and retailers to access the networks or technologies offered by e-commerce giants including Flipkart and Amazon. According to a media report, the network targets to increase its daily transaction traffic to 5000 by March-end from its current levels of about 200 transactions a day. 

The network currently has some large player listings including Delhivery, Meesho, Craftstvilla, PayTm, among others.