Arvind Gupta steps down as independent director at ONDC

Arvind Gupta, an independent director at the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), has stepped down from his position, according to media reports.

This becomes the latest high-profile exit from the government-supported e-commerce initiative. His resignation last month adds to a series of senior-level departures that have raised questions about the network's leadership stability and operational trajectory.

Gupta's departure follows the exit of key figures including Thumpy Koshy, who served as ONDC's managing director and chief executive officer, non-executive chairperson RS Sharma, and chief business officer Shireesh Joshi.

ONDC is overseen by a board of directors and an advisory council. The board comprises founding members, shareholders, government representatives, and independent directors.

With Gupta stepping down, the number of independent directors is now down to three: Adil Zainulbhai, chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission; Anjali Bansal, founder and chairperson of Avaana Capital; and Ritesh Tiwari, executive director of finance & IT and chief financial officer at Hindustan Unilever Limited.

The leadership churn comes at a time when ONDC’s transaction volumes have shown signs of slowing.

Retail orders on the network dropped from 4.34 million in April to 4.07 million in May, marking a 6.2% decline. Similarly, logistics orders routed through the network also fell to 2.32 million in May from 2.41 million a month earlier, the media report added.