Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma-backed Pai Platforms floats new ONDC shopping app: Report

Pai Platforms has floated a new shopping app on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The company is backed by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, besides, the app has been created by the fintech major's parent entity One97 Communications as per the Google Play Store listing, Moneycontrol reported.

The development comes almost two months after Paytm E-commerce Private Limited rebranded itself as Pai Platforms and took over Bitsila, which is a Bangalore-based seller-side platform on ONDC.

Paytm E-commerce Private Limited, now Pai Platforms, faced setbacks in e-commerce with Paytm Mall. Despite raising $400 million from investors like Alibaba and SoftBank in 2018, the venture failed. Alibaba sold its stake in 2022 for just over Rs 100 crore.

Government-promoted ONDC is an initiative of the Commerce and Industry Ministry to create a facilitative model to help small retailers take advantage of digital commerce.

Last year in the Winter session, the government said the ONDC platform is operational in over 500 cities and towns across India.

"ONDC is currently operational in more than 500 cities and towns across India," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
All existing laws and regulations of India, related to e-commerce, are applicable to ONDC and the network participants on the ONDC network.

The ONDC has seen a sixfold increase in monthly retail purchases, reaching 3.6 million in March from 600,000 in September last year, as reported by sources familiar with the matter, news reports said.

In March, the network recorded 7.7 million transactions, with 4.1 million being ride-hailing bookings via the Namma Yatri app. Monthly ride-hailing growth has been modest compared to retail purchases, increasing by only 1.5 times in the last six months from 2.7 million in September. Retail purchases now hold a larger share of total monthly transactions compared to early 2023, where they accounted for only 5-10 percent, with the majority dominated by mobility transactions.