{"id":156857,"date":"2021-12-29T18:41:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T13:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=156857"},"modified":"2021-12-29T18:41:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T13:11:14","slug":"e-com-competition-as-a-worthy-policy-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/e-com-competition-as-a-worthy-policy-response\/","title":{"rendered":"E-com competition as a worthy policy response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>News<\/strong>: The commerce ministry\u2019s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) project is reportedly getting final touches for an online debut within a few months.<\/p>\n<p>While India&#8217;s experience of state market ventures is bad, this project is indeed a worthy move.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><strong>Must Read<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-ondc-seeks-to-democratize-digital-commerce\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">How ONDC seeks to democratize digital commerce?<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h5><strong>Why state&#8217;s interference in the e-com market via ONDC project is needed and why it&#8217;s the right move?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>In general, the state must not interfere in a functional market. The role of a government should be to frame policies that allow for market forces to operate freely, and it should refrain from pursuits better left to private enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>But, due to the following factors, the state&#8217;s interference in the present case is justified:<\/p>\n<p><strong> &#8211;<\/strong> <strong>Network effects and the internet\u2019s low-cost reach<\/strong> have given e-com majors a major hold over a growing sector. This clearly requires the Centre to intervene <strong>against potential abuses of dominance.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211;<\/strong> <strong>Unfair practices<\/strong> <strong>by big players<\/strong>: Shopkeeper lobbies and seller collectives have accused big e-com businesses of unfair practices that threaten their survival.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why ONDC is the right move?: <\/strong>Moreover, as the biggest platforms (websites) are privately run, they deserve the liberty to operate without being stifled by over-regulation.<\/p>\n<p>Hence, the ideal policy response, therefore, would be to set up an optional platform that can challenge private players. As the principal aim is to counter a concentration of market power, the creation of a competitor is the best way out.<\/p>\n<h5>How ONDC can achieve its objective?<\/h5>\n<p><strong>Brand name<\/strong>: It will need a brand name that signals what differentiates it. As ONDC draws inspiration from the UPI, the <strong>value of openness<\/strong> could be pitched at people by a mass campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Platform design, operational efficiency<\/strong> and other factors need to be taken care of.<\/p>\n<p>ONDC must not drain investor funds on <strong>loss-leader discounts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Govt&#8217;s policy must not be abused<\/strong> to tip the e-com market\u2019s scales in this initiative\u2019s favour. An open network should attract customers like any other venture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article \u201c<strong>E-com competition as a worthy policy response<\/strong>\u201d published in<strong> Livemint<\/strong> on <strong>29<sup>th<\/sup> Dec 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: The commerce ministry\u2019s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) project is reportedly getting final touches for an online debut within a few months. While India&#8217;s experience of state market ventures is bad, this project is indeed a worthy move. Must Read: How ONDC seeks to democratize digital commerce? Why state&#8217;s interference in the e-com&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/e-com-competition-as-a-worthy-policy-response\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">E-com competition as a worthy policy response<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10501],"class_list":["post-156857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-live-mint","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704702812},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}