According to reports, Senior Vice-President at Paytm, Rohit Lohia will reportedly join the state-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) as its new Chief Business Officer.
Shireesh Joshi resigned from the CBO position in March of this year, leaving a void that Rohit’s nomination is anticipated to fill. For background, Rohit served on the boards of Paytm Money and QorQl and was active in strategy, growth and business operations at Paytm.
At ONDC, the transfer coincides with top-level turnover. The network has seen a number of senior management changes in recent months, including the departure of Independent Director Arvind Gupta in June and CEO Thampy Koshy in April.
Since then, ONDC’s operational reins have been in the hands of an eight-member executive committee with its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Vibhor Jain, being appointed as acting CEO.
Regarding Rohit’s hiring, both ONDC and Paytm chose not to comment.
For Rohit, taking up CBO’s role is coming at a time when the retail vertical of ONDC is facing pressure despite incentives being rolled out. In August 2025, the platform recorded 17.94 million transactions which is a 2.7% increase month-on-month and the growth was primarily in mobility and logistics sector.
Notably, despite offering incentives, Rohit will take over as CBO at a time when ONDC’s retail segment is facing pressure. Although the platform saw 17.94 million transactions in August 2025, a 2.7% month-on-month increase, the mobility and logistics sectors accounted for the majority of the growth, totalling almost 14 million transactions.
Retail transactions, ONDC’s conventional growth engine, however, dropped to 3.76 million last month. This accounted for over half of August 2024’s 6.1 million transactions.
Therefore, Rohit’s entry coincides with a crucial moment for ONDC as it attempts to stabilise the leadership team and buck the retail slump.
Retail, logistics and mobility are the three primary business divisions into which ONDC divides its operations. Mobility includes ride-hailing and public transportation ticketing; logistics manages delivery fulfilment and last-mile solutions; and retail includes categories like food, apparel and gadgets.
