The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will launch the pilot phase of the Open Network for Digital Commerce on Friday, a senior official said. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a government initiative to provide an open platform for all aspects of exchanging goods and services over electronic networks.

It will be rolled out in five cities – Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore, the official said on Thursday. Dynamic pricing, inventory management, and delivery cost optimisation are three critical elements of ONDC that help reduce business costs for everyone, including retailers.

ONDC received its certificate of incorporation as a private sector-led non-profit corporation on December 31, 2021.
Many established companies have integrated with ONDC. The government formed a nine-member advisory committee, including Nandan Nilekani from Infosys and R S Sharma, chief executive of the National Health Service, to identify the steps needed to design and accelerate the adoption of ONDC.

Through this platform, consumers can discover any seller, product, or service by using any ONDC compliant app or platform, increasing consumer freedom of choice. So far, only more prominent players have taken advantage of e-commerce, while smaller players remain at a disadvantage.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Internal Trade Promotion Anil Agrawal earlier said that the agreement under ONDC will standardize all operations such as cataloguing, inventory management, order management, and order fulfilment.