The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was awarded the prestigious Gold Award under the category “Application of Emerging Technologies for Providing Citizen-Centric Services” in the National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG) during the 27th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG).

ONDC, a key building block of India’s globally renowned Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), was conceptualised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as a bridge between public service delivery and technological enablement of the retail trade sector at large.

The award ceremony was held on Tuesday in Mumbai. Representing the ONDC ecosystem, the prestigious Gold Award in the NAeG in 27th edition of the NCeG was received by Sanjiv, Joint Secretary, DPIIT; T Koshy, CEO, ONDC and other officials from the department.

The National Awards for e-Governance by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) is recognised amongst the most competitive and prestigious digital governance recognition in the country.

The objective of the award is to recognise and promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives and to encourage innovation in successful e-Governance solutions.

The NAeG are conferred under different categories each year during the National Conference on E-Governance (NCeG).

The Conference is organised every year by the DARPG in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and respective state governments hosting the annual event.

The Maharashtra government hosted the 27th Edition of the NCeG in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The ONDC utilised and deployed a unique approach towards massifying e-commerce that is deployment of technological led interventions. By virtue of being interoperable, unbundled, and decentralised, the ONDC splits a complex system into discrete microservices that different players can offer separately, with positive outcomes for all.

The ONDC architecture fosters trust in the e-commerce system. The ONDC is now enabling more than 12 million orders per month, spread across categories ranging from fashion to electronics in products, and ride-hailing to metro ticketing in services. Recently, ONDC crossed another milestone of having over 6 lakh sellers across India live on the network.

The ONDC is empowering a diverse range of sellers, including lakhs of small businesses, artisans, women entrepreneurs, farmers, and street vendors to compete effectively and reach a wider audience. At the same time, the ONDC’s democratisation of e-commerce has fostered competition and innovation, making sure consumers benefit from increased choice and competitive prices.