PNB buys 6% stake in public digital e-commerce platform

Govt-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has acquired about 6% stake in the first-of-its-kind open network, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) for an aggregate amount of ₹10 crore.

PNB received board of directors approval for investing in ONDC with equity participation of 9.5%. Thereby, in the first tranche, the bank pumped in ₹10 crore for acquiring a 5.97% stake in the public digital e-commerce platform.

PNB stated that in the existing platform-centric digital commerce model, buyers and sellers must use the same platform/application to do a business transaction. With ONDC's network-centric model, buyers will be able to access all services currently provided by various sellers on different platforms, on a common network, thus making the network interoperable, reported by PTI.

Earlier, this month, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal introduced ONDC to democratize e-commerce and to protect small businesses by granting them equal opportunity.

ONDC is a globally first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to democratize Digital Commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open network. As UPI is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to e-commerce in India. ONDC will enable, buyers and sellers, to be digitally visible and transact through an open network no matter what platform/application they use. ONDC will empower merchants and consumers by breaking silos to form a single network to drive innovation and scale, transforming all businesses from retail goods, food to mobility.

ONDC is to take all measures to ensure confidentiality and privacy of data in the network.