Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is slated to extend beta testing to another big city by November 2022. The network has already gone live with its beta-testing in Bengaluru since the beginning of October where it has allowed consumers to place orders via buyer apps for food and groceries.

However, ONDC plans to move beyond delivery of only hyperlocal products like food and grocery via its network. ONDC's CEO T. Koshy told CNBC-TV18 that the network aims to drive its growth by entering the domains of fashion, merchandise and logistics by next month even as the network's beta-testing is intended to get feedback from the public. Koshy indicated that Snapdeal may go live on ONDC by the end of October 2022, and buyer apps like PhonePe and Kotak Mahindra are also slated to be on-boarded.

ONDC's pilot phase for alpha-testing was launched in April this year in five cities: Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.

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Speaking about the recent launch in Bengaluru, Koshy said that the few hundred orders in silicon city went off well without any hitch from the end of technology. However, he stressed on the need to strengthen business processes and put SOPs in place to onboard more buyer and seller applications onto the network, which is already looking at an outreach effort to people in the coming weeks.

From a few merchants in 80 cities for closed user groups currently, the network is trying to increase its volumes, for which an active dialogue is being held with all its participants to enable them to work better. Koshy added that the network intends to eventually open for those cities where enough merchants have been on-boarded and are active on the network, which will provide more opportunities and choices for the buyers.

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