KOMN expands statewide to be powered by ONDC

Kochi Open Mobility Network (KOMN) is a pilot initiative by the Transport Department, Government of Kerala. It is implemented under the aegis of the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA), with the support of FIDE (erstwhile Beckn) Foundation. It will now expand to the whole of Kerala as Kerala Open Mobility Network through its integration with ONDC, as a part of the larger initiative to bring diverse aspects of commerce including mobility as a part of the open Network.

The launch event of the Kerala Open Mobility Network was held on 4th November at Grand Hyatt Bolgatty Convention Centre in Kochi and was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. With this development, users can buy mobility in addition to grocery items and F&B on the network. It also represents another step towards single-window access to all goods and services.

Kochi Open Mobility network (KOMN) was the first step towards establishing an open network of transport services in Kerala. Since its launch in 2021, KOMN has successfully combined several taxi associations and Kochi metro booking systems into an integrated solution on one network, using the open-source Beckn Protocols, which is also an underlying protocol of ONDC.

KOMN integration on the ONDC network will enable digital discoverability for all transport operators and their services through any digital platform. This is unlike the current situation wherein each digital platform operates as a walled garden allowing interaction only between service providers and users who are part of that particular platform.

T. Koshy, MD & CEO, ONDC, said, “The launch of the Kerala Open Mobility Network as a part of ONDC takes us one step closer to our goal of democratizing the digital ecosystem and being a single point of access for various services. With the support of the Transport Department, Govt of Kerala will eventually enable access to various mobility services. This will then give the people of Kerala more choices of transport, and at the same time, the service providers will also benefit from the easy and wide discoverability of their services. This is a journey we have just embarked upon and will become a catalyst for the expansion of open mobility networks across India.”