Open Network For Digital Commerce

Why in the News?

Recently, Microsoft become the first big tech company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

• In May 2022, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) went live with a test run of ONDC in cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong.

Key Points About ONDC:

• • It is a not-for-profit organisation that will offer a network to enable local digital commerce stores across industries to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled applications.
  • Aim: To “democratise” the country’s fast-growing digital e-commerce space.
  • It is launched by DPIIT, aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
  • It is neither an aggregator application nor a hosting platform.
  • The ONDC model is trying to replicate the success of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the field of digital payments.

• Working of ONDC:

• • When a buyer searches for an item on the Paytm app, from where ONDC has gone live, the app will connect to the ONDC platform.
  • ONDC will connect it to seller side interfaces that will list all the companies from where one can buy the particular item.