ETtechThe commerce and industry ministry on Friday come out with a consultation paper to improve the trust of different stakeholders, including consumers, in the open network for digital commerce (ONDC). ONDC is an initiative of the ministry to help small retailers expand their business and reduce the dominance of e-commerce giants.
The paper - Building Trust in the ONDC Network- has invited comments and suggestions on various key issues, including returns, refunds and cancellations; search and discovery; placing an order; fulfilment of orders; payment and settlement; issue and grievance management; and enforcement and compliance framework.
"The primary objective of this consultation is for ONDC to take stock of whether its approach for building trust is adequate and likely to have the intended outcome," the paper said.
This paper raises four questions - are the measures ONDC is taking sufficient to address the question of building trust among market participants?; if not, what actions can ONDC take to bridge the gap?; which (if any) of the measures are likely to be counterproductive?; and taken together, do these measures offer a level of trust amongst participants that is comparable to or greater than what the platforms are currently able to elicit?
"The goal of this paper is to invite feedback on how ONDC can improve trust in the ONDC network," it said, adding for a typical buyer, whether they trust an e-commerce system will be based on certain considerations, which include accurate information, and customer service and issue resolution.
On returns, refunds and cancellations, the paper said that these elements play a significant role in cultivating trust in an e-commerce network, given that the entire notion of physically examining the product before purchase is moot, and also logistics may be outside the control of the buyer.
The return, refund or cancellation request will be processed on the basis of the terms of sale offered by the seller at the time of the sale, it said.
On this, the paper sought views on mechanisms that ONDC and network participants can put in place to avoid issues related to returns, refunds and cancellations from escalating into disputes.
ONDC's aim is to build an open, interoperable network on which buyers and sellers can transact without needing to be present on the same platform.
To that end, its network architecture does not depend on a centralised controller for operations information flow. Instead at its foundation are open standards for interoperability and unbundling of the e-commerce value chain, it said.
Stakeholders can send views till October 31.
The paper - Building Trust in the ONDC Network- has invited comments and suggestions on various key issues, including returns, refunds and cancellations; search and discovery; placing an order; fulfilment of orders; payment and settlement; issue and grievance management; and enforcement and compliance framework.
"The primary objective of this consultation is for ONDC to take stock of whether its approach for building trust is adequate and likely to have the intended outcome," the paper said.
This paper raises four questions - are the measures ONDC is taking sufficient to address the question of building trust among market participants?; if not, what actions can ONDC take to bridge the gap?; which (if any) of the measures are likely to be counterproductive?; and taken together, do these measures offer a level of trust amongst participants that is comparable to or greater than what the platforms are currently able to elicit?
"The goal of this paper is to invite feedback on how ONDC can improve trust in the ONDC network," it said, adding for a typical buyer, whether they trust an e-commerce system will be based on certain considerations, which include accurate information, and customer service and issue resolution.
On returns, refunds and cancellations, the paper said that these elements play a significant role in cultivating trust in an e-commerce network, given that the entire notion of physically examining the product before purchase is moot, and also logistics may be outside the control of the buyer.
The return, refund or cancellation request will be processed on the basis of the terms of sale offered by the seller at the time of the sale, it said.
On this, the paper sought views on mechanisms that ONDC and network participants can put in place to avoid issues related to returns, refunds and cancellations from escalating into disputes.
ONDC's aim is to build an open, interoperable network on which buyers and sellers can transact without needing to be present on the same platform.
To that end, its network architecture does not depend on a centralised controller for operations information flow. Instead at its foundation are open standards for interoperability and unbundling of the e-commerce value chain, it said.
Stakeholders can send views till October 31.
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