The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed initiative, has embarked on a pilot project to integrate street food vendors into its interoperable network, starting with Delhi and Lucknow. The initiative aims to accelerate the network’s expansion and promote digital inclusion among small-scale sellers.
As per reports, the pilot project aims to onboard 500 street food vendors in Delhi and Lucknow within the next 1-2 months, paving the way for a nationwide rollout. ONDC plans to leverage various buyer applications on the network to stimulate sustainable demand for street food offerings.
In Delhi, the pilot commenced with Magicpin, a platform backed by Zomato, collaborating with street vendors in the Saket locality. Two vendors, Krishna Chaat Bhandaar and Free Plates, have already joined the network through this initiative. Magicpin will provide extensive training to the vendors, facilitate digitalisation, and enable them to accept payments through mainstream banking channels. Once onboarded, vendors will gain access to Magicpin’s extensive user base of 10 million users.
While ONDC focused on laying the groundwork for onboarding buyers, sellers, and platforms in 2023, the year 2024 is crucial for determining its scalability. The network aims to achieve a monthly run rate of up to 8 million transactions by the end of FY24.
Several new-age companies such as Paytm, Ola, PhonePe, Meesho, Magicpin, and Shiprocket have embraced ONDC over the past year-and-a-half, aiming to diversify online retail beyond dominant players like Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, and Swiggy.
ONDC has expanded its services beyond e-commerce, with ride-hailing services operational in seven cities, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, and Kochi. The recent launch of metro ticket booking on ONDC in Chennai marks a significant stride towards enabling multimodal mobility through the network, underscoring its potential to revolutionise digital commerce infrastructure in India.
