Paytm founder's Pai Platforms testing ride-hailing services on ONDC

For instance, other platforms, such as Yaary, a group representing Hyderabad's auto rickshaw and taxi drivers, launched their ride-hailing service on ONDC in December last year

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Pai Platforms is experimenting with a ride-hailing feature through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) route, a person in the know said. 

The platform, formerly known as Paytm E-commerce, will join a list of a few companies in ONDC’s mobility space to offer services. 

For instance, other platforms such as Yaary, a group representing Hyderabad’s auto rickshaw and taxi drivers, announced the launch of their ride-hailing service on ONDC in December last year. 

Paytm did not respond to queries sent by Business Standard till press time.

“The feature is still in the testing phase and not all the users may have access to it. Through the ONDC route, Pai offers other services like groceries, among other things,” the person said.  

Last month, the Pai platform mistakenly launched PaiPai, an app on ONDC, ahead of its schedule. It was later taken down from the Play Store. 

Paytm does not hold any stake in the platform. It is developed by the parent entity One97 Communications (OCL). 

The Noida-based company had previously gone live with categories such as electronics, fashion, food delivery, and grocery on the Paytm app using the ONDC route.  

ONDC, a Section 8 non-profit organisation, was set up by the Union commerce ministry to democratise digital commerce. It has expanded into domains like groceries and food delivery. 

It had forayed into the mobility space to help local businesses compete with large players such as Uber and SoftBank-backed Ola in March last year. 

The government-backed platform inducted Namma Yatri, a Bengaluru-based auto booking app, as part of its open network for mobility initiative during the same time.