New Delhi: The ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks, is gaining increasing traction from the industry. A total of seven companies- one buyer side app, five seller side apps and one logistics service provider app – have adopted ONDC protocols and built their own ONDC compatible apps. These apps have been able to successfully complete cascaded transactions across the ONDC network during the pilot phase in five designated cities- Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore - in grocery and food and beverages segments.

This information was provided during the meeting of the ONDC Advisory Council chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to review the progress made in the project here recently. The meeting was attended by Nandan Nilekani, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman QCI, Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, RS Sharma, CEO, NHA, Suresh Sethi, CEO NSDL e-Gov, Dilip Asbe, CEO, NPCI, Praveen Khandelwal, SG CAIT, K Rajgopalan, CEO RAI, Arvind Gupta, Anjali Bansal, Avaana Capital and Shri Anil Agrawal, Additional secretary, DPIIT.

Goyal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that the ONDC will open up new opportunities for small traders, MSMEs and businesses. While the pilot phase of ONDC has given promising results with traders who were already digitally present, ONDC must prioritize strategies towards inclusion of non-digital traders, handi craftsmen and artisans so that the benefits of e-commerce may be availed by these sections. The Minister asked the department to launch a pilot with focus on non-digital traders from one single market.

During the meeting it was informed that the ONDC and NABARD are working on a program to bring the agriculture sector to ONDC and as a first step, a hackathon is being organized on 1-3 July to build innovative solutions for FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations). The Minister said that ONDC may prove to be an invaluable tool to assist farmers find the right prices for their produce. It was also apprised that the Government of UP has actively started working with ONDC to get all the ODOP (One District One Product) products available on ONDC network.

Goyal said that the ONDC network needs to make a robust policy framework for building trust in the network. The National Consumer Helpline records show that major grievances of consumers are related to delivery of wrong, defective or damaged product, non-delivery or delayed delivery, no refunds as promised and deficiency in services promised. All these issues must be addressed effectively. /BI/