Awareness workshops in collaboration with industry associations to educate small sellers and businesses about ONDC

The Government plans to make the Open Network for Digital Commerce as accessible and far-reaching as possible.

The Government’s endeavour is to promote ONDC, which is a first-of its- kind, global initiative aimed at democratizing digital commerce in India. ONDC would bring parity and provide a level playing field to large and small scale enterprises, facilitating efficient exchange of goods and services.

The programmes for making ONDC accessible and far reaching include:

• Conducting awareness workshops in collaboration with various industry associations across the country to educate the small sellers and businesses about ONDC and its benefits.

• Nodal Officer for each state and UT, has been appointed to accelerate state level engagement plans. Various ONDC awareness campaigns and workshops have been organised across the country.

• Educating consumers about ONDC, the benefits of supporting local businesses and the impact of their choices on the local economy.

The Government recognizes the importance of empowering small and non- tech enabled traders and promoting local businesses through ONDC. Various initiatives proposed to help small and non-tech enabled merchants onboard to ONDC include:

• ONDC has conducted more than 25 awareness workshops in collaboration with various industry associations across the country to educate the small sellers and businesses about ONDC and its benefits. Multiple joint workshops are organised in collaboration with RAI, PHDCCI, FICCI, NASSCOM, CII and FHRAI.

• ONDC is working actively with various departments of all the States and UTs. Each state/ UT has appointed a Nodal Officer to accelerate the state level engagements with ONDC. Various ONDC awareness campaigns and workshops are organised across the country.

• ONDC has launched a Feet on Street (FoS) program, involving 90 FoS resources, to support the Network Participants (NPs) in identifying and educating sellers about the benefits of ONDC and how to join through Seller Applications, hand-holding support to sellers to onboard on Seller Applications and creating a first-level basic catalogue.

• ONDC has recently launched an Academy which is a repository of educational and informative textual and video content. ONDC Academy will provide a curated learning experience providing guidance and best practices for a successful e-commerce journey for each and every participant of the ONDC network.

The Government proposes to enable both local as well as national level businesses on ONDC with the aim of creating an inclusive ecosystem for digital commerce. ONDC will have potential benefits for all players in the e-commerce industry including local as well as national level businesses.

ONDC and the Network Participants in the ONDC Network are all subject to all existing applicable laws & regulations of India.

This information has been provided by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Open Network for Digital Commerce accessibility expanded to promote inclusive onboarding, state coordination, and legal compliance. The Government is expanding access to the Open Network for Digital Commerce through awareness workshops, a Feet on Street seller support programme, an ONDC Academy for training, and state level coordination by designated Nodal Officers to promote inclusive onboarding of small and non tech enabled merchants; ONDC participants remain subject to existing applicable laws and regulations of India.