The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Strategic decision · 2021–2025
ONDC turned India's e-commerce into an open network where any app can reach any seller
India built open commerce rails instead of a rival marketplace — sellers on any ONDC app reach every buyer app, passing 200M transactions by 2025.
ONDC
The solution
By 2021, Indian e-commerce had settled into a few walled platforms: sellers paid steep commissions, catalogues were invisible outside one app, and digitally underserved buyers stayed out. Building a better rival marketplace looked like the only move.
ONDC chose the other path: it is not a marketplace but a set of open protocols, run by a Section 8 company promoted by DPIIT. A seller onboarded through any ONDC-compliant seller app becomes discoverable to all compliant buyer apps; payments, logistics and cataloguing are unbundled so specialists can plug in.
Because seller apps compete for merchants, transaction fees stay near cost instead of marketplace-style commissions. The network crossed 200 million transactions by March 2025 — the first 100 million took about 20 months, the next 100 million only six.
Inclusion is engineered in: by December 2025 over 1.16 lakh retail sellers were live from 630+ cities and towns, and programs like TEAM (half women-led enterprises) and eSaras bring self-help-group products onto the network.
Why it worked
- One onboarding makes a catalogue visible to every buyer app, so reach grows with zero platform marketing spend.
- Unbundling lets payment, logistics and catalogue specialists compete instead of one firm owning the whole chain.
- Competition among seller apps keeps transaction fees near cost — something marketplace commissions never did.
- Common open specs expose ranking rules, so small sellers can understand and fix their discoverability.
What can be applied
When platforms own a market, build the rails beneath them: an open standard makes entry cheap, turns fees into network growth, and gives small sellers reach no subsidy could buy.
Aftermath
By March 2025 ONDC had crossed 200 million transactions, and by December 2025 it counted 1.16 lakh+ live retail sellers across 630+ cities and towns. Ministries layered inclusion programs on top: the MSME ministry's TEAM scheme (50% women-led enterprises), eSaras onboarding 800+ SHG-made handicrafts, and Common Services Centres connecting villages. ONDC's managing director called the acceleration proof that an open network can break monopolies; the network keeps adding mobility, F&B, grocery, retail and financial-services use cases.
Sources
- ONDC Enables Fair, Transparent and Inclusive E-Commerce by Creating an Open, Non-Discriminatory Digital Marketplace
- ONDC Revolutionizes India's E commerce: Empowering Small Businesses, Lowering Costs, and Expanding Buyer Choices
- ONDC crosses 200 million transaction mark
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