India News | ONDC's Beta Version Goes Live in Five More Cities

New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) The government's initiative ONDC on Wednesday said its beta version has now become live in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Also Read | Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi Says Manipur Needs Peace To Heal, Peace Is the Only Way Forward.

It said that along with Bengaluru and Meerut, which were chosen for going beta live in September 2022 and December 2022, respectively, the network is now accessible to buyers (consumers) and sellers in these additional five cities.

Consumers will be able to purchase from the sellers on the ONDC network through four active buyer applications -- Paytm, Mystore, Spice Money, and Magicpin, it said.

Also Read | Russian Journalist Back in Moscow After Chechnya Attack.

Currently, the network has over 40,000 sellers live in over 200 cities, out of which more than 18,000 sellers operate from these five cities.

ONDC had its alpha roll-out in April 2022 in five cities to test live transactions with a closed group of sellers and buyers while gradually expanding its footprint.

The main objective to go beta live is to allow consumers to experience the open network for the first time, collect real-time feedback and also test the network at scale before the pan-India roll-out.

T Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC, said, "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."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)