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The curious case of open mobility – How local public transport is getting revolutionized
The curious case of open mobility – How local public transport is getting revolutionized

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It is truth universally acknowledged that ONDC is expected to change the e-commerce industry, with both the buyers and sellers using the same platform to conduct business transactions, providing a level playing field for both the MNC players as well as the local kirana stores.

Over the past few years, we have witnessed a rapid increase in urban mobility, leading to congestion and continued stress on public transport and the infrastructure of the cities. Personal vehicles and public transport continue choke the roads. Consumers and drivers same many challenges while navigating within the city roads.

To combat these challenges, open mobility network is a life saver.  Open mobility is an open network where any mode of transport can contribute to provide services to commuters, hence removing the dependency on any third party organizations. The common network standards allow for interoperability for any buyer app compliant with the network standards to offer rides. The network allows for all forms of mobility operators ranging from auto rickshaws, taxis, and public transport to coexist.

Two such initiatives, which have used ONDC and Beckn protocol, are being used to solve modern mobility related challenges across major cities in the country. These are Kochi Open Mobility Network (KOMN) in Kochi, Kerala and Namma Yatri in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

ONDC 1

 

  1. Kochi Open Mobility Network (KOMN) – Launched in July 2021, KOMN is one of the novel initiatives towards digitizing mobility, where all mobility apps in the network are built in such a way as to enable them to communicate with each other in the same language. This offers an open interoperability led integration approach. It is a multimodal mobility network enabled by open specifications of Beckn protocol. It plans to integrate, plan, and regulate different commuting modes. It is currently on ONDC network as well.

Customers can install the “Yatri” app to access a choice of taxi services in the city. They have access to multiple cab service providers across the city and can book the one that is convenient for them.

The drivers can use Yatri Partner app and get enrolled through an aggregator or an agency of their choice. This ensures them more visibility for any passenger to easily spot them and assess where the demand is coming from. They will also incur less marketing costs due to no third party charges and commissions, hence justifying the taxi fares due to no interventions.

Future plans include coverage to auto rickshaws, and buses. It is also expected to allow users to book ferries, metro rides, and even rent bicycles. It is also planning to help users find parking spots, EV charging stations, and eventually expand to the hospitality and healthcare sector, not just in Kerala but to other states as well.

 

  1. Namma Yatri – Namma Yatri is another open mobility platform using the Beckn protocol and available on ONDC in the city of Bengaluru. Auto rickshaws have been the first to join this mobility network. It is a collective ecosystem of multiple mobility service providers which coexist on a common standard network. This too, like KOMN, ensures no commission or middlemen, giving the entire fare amount paid by the customer to the driver, while ensuring complete visibility and transparency, thereby breaking the monopoly held by the cab aggregators. The auto drivers can complete the KYC verification and start using the app. For the customer, this allows them to avail the benefits of a truly multi modal offering.

These apps are step towards ending exorbitant pricing by the cab aggregators. It keeps all the players on an equal playing field and thereby leads to horizontalization of the market space for all players in the long run. When the buyers and sellers get together in the same platform creating a level playing field, it leads to increased transparency, higher choice for the customers, rapid innovation for development of newer products and services, thereby protecting the interests of both the consumers and service providers.

 

Sources:

  1. https://openkochi.net/
  2. https://becknprotocol.io/kochi-gets-the-worlds-first-open-mobility-network/
  3. https://nammayatri.in

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Vandhna Babu
Principal Analyst - Research

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