ONDC To Begin Beta Testing In Bengaluru On Friday

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that the general public in Bengaluru will get to experience Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) on Friday.

Taking to Twitter, Goyal said that ONDC will make its landfall in the city of Bengaluru. The government initiative aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks will be beta tested in the city.

The objective of the beta test is to allow consumers to experience the network for the first time and gather feedback which will help further refine the network before a pan-India roll-out.

“Bengaluru consumers to get a whole new shopping experience! Beta testing of the Govt's revolutionary Open Network For Digital Commerce to begin from tomorrow. It is democratic, cost-effective and empowers buyers and small businesses,” tweeted Minister Piyush Goyal.

ONDC will progressively open its network to consumers via participant applications in 16 pin codes spread across Bengaluru starting 30th September.

To begin with, consumers can place their orders in two categories – groceries and restaurants through buyer apps participating on the ONDC network.

Dunzo, Loadshare and Shiprocket are providing logistics services and Protean eGov Technologies Ltd (Formerly NSDL e-Gov) is providing gateway services.

In a statement, T. Koshy, MD & CEO, ONDC said, “This is a milestone for ONDC and e-commerce in India. ONDC will democratise the e-commerce ecosystem by allowing all sellers to access all buyers and all buyers to access all sellers. Even for the Beta Test in Bengaluru, we have chosen the most difficult categories; groceries and restaurants. We are confident this Beta Test will give us important insights which will help us further refine our playbook before a pan-India rollout.”

ONDC was launched earlier this year with the aim of making e-Commerce more inclusive and accessible for consumers. Through the network, consumers are expected to potentially discover any seller, product or service by using any compatible application or platform, thus increasing freedom of choice for consumers. It will enable the consumers to match demand with the nearest available supply.

The network got an alpha launch in five cities in April and ONDC has been testing with a closed user group for end-to-end execution to understand their fulfilment. 

The initiative looks to give consumers the liberty to choose their preferred local businesses.

ONDC would also standardise operations, promote inclusion of local suppliers, drive efficiencies in logistics and lead to enhancement of value for consumers.