India’s apex Hospitality Association the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has applauded the Government and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on the successful launch of the pilot phase of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in five cities of India. Terming the initiative as a revolutionary step in the larger interest of the retail ecosystem in the country, FHRAI anticipates ONDC to change the dynamics of the online retail market in the country. In a representation made to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and to Nandan Mohan Nilekani, Advisory Council Member of ONDC, FHRAI has requested for a similar platform for the hospitality industry to ensure a level playing field and to break the monopoly of Online Travel Aggregators (OTAs) and the Food Service Aggregators (FSAs).

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI, said, “Like the retail players, the hospitality industry too is presently aggrieved by a few OTAs and FSAs. Introducing a platform like ONDC for the hospitality industry will be a big game changer. It will ensure a mechanism to protect the interest of hotels and restaurants across the country against the predatory pricing and anti-competitive tactics of OTAs and FSAs. Needless to say, it will immensely benefit millions of our customers with better deals and better customer experience.” 

FHRAI has opined that the hospitality industry, including food business operators, would hugely benefit if the industry is brought under the ambit of a platform like ONDC. The association stressed that the hospitality industry too has been facing tough challenges due to the monopolistic conduct and unethical business practices of OTAs and FSAs. 

“The major issues the industry faces from these agencies range from charging high rate of commissions, over commitment to customers, deep discounting, unreasonable additional charges, breach of agreements, default of payments and over and under booking of the rooms, to name a few. These agencies have created a hostile environment for the industry and customers too face problems of non-fulfilment of prior commitments coupled with almost zero complaint redressal mechanism. A platform like ONDC will immensely benefit millions of customers with better deals and better customer experience,” said Pradeep Shetty, Jt Hon Sec, FHRAI.