ONDC Make Its Tier-2 City Debut By Going Live For Beta Testing In Meerut

SUMMARY

The state-backed network is open to consumers and sellers in Meerut city now

In the beta launch, four live buyer applications – IDFC First Bank, Mystore, Paytm, and Spice Money – will allow consumers to transact on ONDC

The city has been strategically selected for beta testing as it shows great promise through its strong seller density: ONDC

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) went live for beta testing in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on Thursday (December 22). The network is now open to consumers and sellers in the city.

In the beta launch, four live buyer applications – IDFC First Bank, Mystore, Paytm, and Spice Money – will allow consumers to transact on ONDC.

With this launch, Meerut has become the first Tier-2 city in the country to commence beta testing of the ecommerce initiative.

The city has been strategically selected for beta testing as it shows great promise through its strong seller density, ONDC said in a statement.

“The launch of ONDC in Meerut will provide insightful learning to understand the network adaptation in Tier-II cities and to drive further inclusivity of regional sellers on the network,” the statement added.

Earlier in September, the network went live to public users in Bengaluru in grocery and F&B categories with 5 buyer applications, 12 seller applications and 2 logistics providers, as part of the beta testing phase.

ONDC, an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), is an open protocol-based digital commerce platform that will work towards breaking silos of multiple ecommerce platforms and will unify them under a single open network. It will enable buyers and sellers across multiple segments to list on the platform and transact with customers.

The government aims to democratise the ecommerce sector in the country through ONDC. Besides, it is also looking to improve inclusion and ecommerce penetration in the country through the network.

Digit, Dunzo, Delhivery, ITC Store are among the names that are currently live on the platform.

Considerably, ONDC shifted its headquarters to the national capital on December 16. During the inauguration of the headquarters, ONDC CEO T Koshy said that the platform aims to scale the number of merchants from 700 in the F&B and groceries category to more than 20,000 across multiple categories.

ONDC is also likely to start charging a ‘small fee’ from the platforms. This fee will contribute towards the ‘maintenance and development’ of the network.