Government Plans to Launch an E-commerce Network

According to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which will be launched by Diwali, will provide consumers with an alternative to Amazon and Flipkart.

The government intends to launch its indigenously developed online e-commerce network for the general public in 100 Indian cities by Diwali, providing an alternative to multinational platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart for millions of kirana stores and consumers.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced the open-source system’s test launch on Friday. According to two people directly involved with the project, the beta launch will unveil the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) IT applications and registry to a small number of retailers and customers in Bengaluru on Friday.

“On the heels of UPI (Unified Payment Interface), another game-changing idea to democratise commerce – ONDC soft launch today to a select group of consumers, sellers, and logistics providers.” Prepare for a world of choice, convenience, and transparency,” the minister said in a Friday tweet.

According to Anil Agrawal, the additional secretary in the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade, the project is massive because it will provide a wide range of options to all consumers and retailers, and the formal launch will take place after successful testing of the system (DPIIT).

“End-to-end testing is being conducted to create a playbook with the goal of launching it in 100 cities in six months [by October 2022],” he explained.

ONDC chief executive officer Thampy Koshy said in Bengaluru on Friday that about 15 restaurants and grocery stores, as well as select consumers, have been registered in Bangalore to begin the trial with actual product delivery.

“This is a field trial with actual transactions.” We’ll visit two major cities and three smaller towns in the coming week. “We will gradually scale it up based on our experience,” he said.

According to Koshy, the ONDC system differs from the operational models of existing e-commerce companies in India and abroad, where buyers and sellers are limited to their respective platforms.

“Our model is platform-independent. This is one-of-a-kind; it has never been done before anywhere in the world. As a result, a deliberate approach,” he explained.

“ONDC is based on interoperability, which means that all platforms will be able to communicate with one another,” Koshy explained.

According to him, the system will provide retailers and customers with a variety of options for cataloging, inventories, warehousing, suppliers, logistics, and payments. The initial test launch, which began in Bengaluru, will also include Delhi, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong.

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According to Amazon India, the company is “closely engaging with the ONDC team to better understand the proposed model.” “By simplifying technology adoption to help local stores and businesses contribute to India becoming a $5 trillion economy, we remain committed to the government’s vision of digitising kiranas, local stores, and creating opportunities for businesses across India.” “We are working closely with the ONDC team to better understand the proposed model and assess Amazon’s role in better serving Indian customers and sellers,” an Amazon India spokesperson said.