New Delhi (31.08.2022): The country’s open public digital infrastructure framework entity Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) plans to start beta-testing the network with public users in limited areas, the Government of India said on Tuesday. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal who chaired a meeting to review the progress of ONDC informed that the number of network participants on the platform would soon be above 30 in the coming weeks.
Since the alpha launch in five cities in April, ONDC has been testing with a closed user group for end-to-end execution to understand their fulfillment.
The Union Minister said that while continuing various network development initiatives, we must keep in mind that the basic purpose of ONDC is to assist the small, undigitised trader, who must be assisted to get digitized and avail of the opportunities offered by the e-commerce ecosystem.
Goyal said that existing e-commerce platforms are popular because they remain consumer-focused. ONDC must create consumer trust through robust mechanisms for ensuring redressal of grievances of consumers and enforcing transparent policies for returns, refunds, and cancellations, he added.
He directed Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to work with all State Governments to create awareness about the utility of ONDC.
Goyal expressed his desire that ONDC must work in active cooperation with traders and industry associations to implement the network at the ground level. Faster scaling up can be achieved with the cooperation of these associations.
What is ONDC?
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a community-led network that aims to create an open, inclusive and competitive marketplace. At present in the platform-centric model, marketplaces have end-to-end control, starting from seller onboarding, customer acquisition, order fulfillment, complaint redressal, and managing payments. ONDC aims to de-couple this complex system into separate microservices that can be addressed separately.
