Common Services Centers (CSCs), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), on Wednesday joined hands with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to enable e-commerce access to rural citizens across India.

This initiative will enable the integration of CSC’s e-Grameen app on the ONDC Network as a buyer application, allowing citizens across rural India to access its vast e-commerce Network.

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CSC services will become a part of the ONDC Network in two phases. In the first phase, it will be onboarded as a buyer-side platform, allowing citizens visiting CSC to place orders for essentials via the e-Grameen app.

With over 4 lakh CSC points across India, this will enable millions of new users to access e-commerce, through their trusted neighborhood CSC.

In the second phase, sellers registered on the CSC platform will be able to receive orders via ONDC Network. This will boost entrepreneurship opportunities and incomes for village-level entrepreneurs, driving the vision of Gram Swaraj.

T Koshy, MD & CEO, ONDC, said, “Together, we hope to tap into the entrepreneurial promise of village-level entrepreneurs to boost rural incomes aligned with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.”

Sanjay Kumar Rakesh, MD & CEO, CSC SPV, said, “Rural India is fast transforming due to digital empowerment. Now, e-commerce services will be able to reach isolated rural areas thanks to this relationship with ONDC.”