ONDC Enters Beta Phase, Expands To Major Indian Cities

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has on Wednesday entered its beta phase with the launch in several major cities. 

Following the beta rollout in Bengaluru and Meerut in September 2022 and December 2022, respectively, ONDC is now accessible to consumers and sellers in Mumbai, Delhi NCR (including Noida, Gurgaon, and Faridabad), Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. 

With the beta launch, consumers in these cities can make purchases from a wide range of sellers on the ONDC network. To facilitate the buying experience, ONDC has partnered with four prominent buyer applications including Paytm, Mystore, Spice Money, and Magicpin. Through these applications, consumers can access the network and explore products and services offered by the more than 18,000 sellers operating in these cities.

The ONDC network, which currently boasts over 40,000 active sellers across more than 200 cities, underwent an alpha rollout in April 2022. The alpha phase involved testing live transactions within a closed group of sellers and buyers, allowing for gradual expansion and refinement of the network. 

In a statement, T Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC, said, “We started with Bengaluru and Meerut and now have a sizable number of sellers, enough to extend the network to other cities. We hope that with this Beta announcement, more and more businesses will be inclined to join us, benefiting from an early-mover advantage. Additionally, as we touch more consumer territories, it also gives us the insights and opportunities to improve the network.”