ONDC Wins Gold Award At National e-Governance Awards

The department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) has awarded the ‘Gold Award’ to state-backed ONDC at the National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG).

The award was bestowed on the state-backed platform under the “application of emerging technologies for providing citizen-centric services” category. 

In a statement, the DARPG said that the award recognises excellence in implementation of e-governance initiatives and to encourage innovation. 

Meanwhile, ONDC said in a post on X, “We are honored to receive the Gold Medal at the National e-Governance Awards for our innovative use of emerging technologies in providing citizen-centric services. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to transforming digital commerce.” 

Chiming in, joint secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) Sanjiv Singh said, “ONDC is not a platform but a network that assists people in selling their services with ease only through seller and buyer apps”. 

In a post on X, DARPG added that the state-backed network is driving “local entrepreneurship” and generating employment opportunities by enabling local businesses and kirana stores to go digital.

The award ceremony was organised in Mumbai on Tuesday (September 3) on the sidelines of the 27th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG). The conference is organised every year by the DARPG in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the respective state governments. 

This year’s edition was hosted by the government of Maharashtra.

Incorporated in 2021 as an initiative of DPIIT, ONDC is an open protocol-based network to enable local commerce across multiple segments, including grocery and mobility among others. 

The network claims to enable more than 1.2 Cr orders per month and has forayed into categories such as fashion, electronics in products, ride-hailing, among others. 

It claims to have over 6 Lakh sellers live on its network across the country.

“ONDC is further expanding its capabilities for deeper and greater integration with key platforms of the government. This is intended to further enhance ease of doing business, faster access to credit and data flow amongst government platforms. ONDC will make it possible for inter-locks and linkages across government platforms to serve (a) common set of beneficiaries for achievement of unified objectives,” the DARPG said in the statement. 

The award comes at a time when the network has been aggressively diversifying its offerings and scaling up its presence. Just a day ago, it entered into a partnership with Delhi Transport  Corporation (DTC) to facilitate digital QR ticketing. 

Last month, it was reported that ONDC is planning to launch insurance and mutual fund products in the coming months. 

The network has been looking to integrate banks as well as fintech platforms for last-mile credit services. 

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