With Meerut, ONDC’s All Set To Make Its Tier 2 City Debut On Dec 22

State-backed Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) is all set to commence its beta testing in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on December 22.

The initial phase of the launch in Meerut is expected to involve 50 sellers in the food and beverage category, as reported by YourStory. 

The initiative will be unveiled at a public event, which could see participation from senior officials of the Department for Promotion of Internal Trade (DPIIT). Besides, several startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are also expected to attend the event.

Post the launch, Meerut will become the first tier 2 city in the country to commence beta testing of the ecommerce initiative. 

Interestingly, Delhi was supposed to start the beta testing of ONDC on November 28, but the plan was reportedly deferred due to Delhi Municipal elections. 

After beginning its pilot run in April this year, ONDC has scaled its alpha testing to 85 cities, including Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore. As many as 18 network participants are currently live on the platform, including startups such as Dunzo, Delhivery, Shiprocket, and  Paytm, among others.

Modelled on the lines of unified payments interface (UPI), ONDC 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 initiative aims to increase the visibility and reach of around 60 Mn brick-and-mortar stores, which currently operate at the whims of ecommerce players in the digital sphere. 

The report comes barely a day after ONDC shifted to its headquarters in the national capital on December 16. During the inauguration of the ONDC’s headquarters, chief executive officer (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.

At present, ONDC has a total of 26 partners on the network, with plans to onboard another 125 in the next two months. It aims to have 900 Mn buyers and 1.2 Mn sellers on the network, and is eyeing a gross merchandise value of $48 Bn in the next two years.

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