Ideaz

"Link customers with providers easily"

Problem: 

India's local services market- including plumbers, tutors, beauticians, trainers, lawyers, electricians, and more- is vast but highly fragmented. platforms like Urban Company do cover a decent amount of these services but they cater only to curated, premium services in Tier 1 and tier 2 cities. They charge high commissions and exclude informal, semi skilled workers. As a result, millions of providers in semi-urban and rural areas lack digital visibility, while customers outside major cities face difficulty in finding affordable and relatable services. Moreover, we use different platforms to find different services, which complicates things. 

Market gap:

• Affordability gap: Current platforms charge high fees, raising costs for consumers while reducing provider income. 
• Accessibility gap: Lack of regional language prevents smaller players from joining. 
• The current platforms treat service providers as their employees, which many people might not prefer, especially when they have a business of their own. We need an app that provides a platform for current businesses' digital presence.

Solution:

An ONDC-A single native services and e commerce marketplace that allows any individual or SME to list services with simple onboarding in local languages. Customers can search, book, and pay seamlessly through ONDC, while providers gain digital visibility without heavy commissions. The platform would include:

• Regional accessibility: multilingual support
• Trust layer: Ratings, reviews and verified badges
• Service Diversity: Education, fitness, repairs, events, healthcare, Lawyers,  e-commerce Provisions
• Low costs: Minimal commission to keep services affordable and profitable.

Who gets benefited? 

• Users: Access to affordable, hyperlocal service
• Providres: Increased earnings and digital reach.
• Communities- Local job creation, stronger trust networks, reduced complexity.

Why this problem matters:

I see firsthand how talented small-time service providers and local businesses are, yet they remain largely invisible in the digital economy. With ONDC’s government-backed momentum—similar to the transformative impact UPI had on payments—this is the right time to democratize access to services.

Being able to access all services available through a single app/website would save people enormous amounts of time and effort. Instead of searching across multiple sources/platforms, customers could easily find everything they need -be it a plumber, a tutor, or a beautician-within one unified platform.

For service providers, the opportunity is even bigger. They can continue running their physical shops while gaining a digital presence that expands their reach and brings in additional customers.This dual model allows them to maximize income without abandoning their existing way of doing business.

In many ways, it creates a true win win situation. Consumers benefit from convenience, trust, and affordability, while service providers gain visibility, credibility, and growth opportunities. By connecting the offline and online worlds through ONDC, we can empower small businesses, strengthen local economies, and make services more accessible to everyone-whether they live in a metropolitan city or a small town

Technicalities:

• Integration with ONDC APIs for payment and logistics

• Regional NLP and voice input for easy onboarding
• Trust framework: Verified profiles, AI driven fraud detection and review systems
• Scalable architecture for onboarding thousands of micro providers quickly

The reason I want to go via ONDC is to avoid additional charges and create a fair, low cost marketplace where both consumers and service providers benefit without the burden of high platform commissions.