ONDC to be gradually expanded to more cities: Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

July 15, 2022

Open network for digital commerce (ONDC) is a set of standards for voluntary adoption by sellers or logistics providers or payment gateways.
The objective is to democratise the fast-growing e-commerce sector in the country to help small retailers and reduce the dominance of online retail giants.
According to Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the presence of open network for digital commerce, a Unified Payments Interface-type protocol, will be gradually expanded to more cities after the successful launch of its pilot phase.
It provides small retailers the freedom to choose any logistics player and seller platform based on different parameters like location and rates.
The initiative is also aimed at curbing the dominance of two large multinational e-commerce players — which control more than half of the country’s e-commerce trading, limit access to the market and give preferential treatment to certain sellers and squeeze supplier margins.
The ONDC was launched in five cities in April – Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore.
As many as 20 organisations of national repute have confirmed investments of Rs 255 crore into the ONDC. Lenders, such as the State Bank of India, UCO Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda, have already committed investments.