ONDC launches B2B transactions on its platform

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) announced the launch of business-to-business (B2B) transactions on its platform yesterday. As part of this announcement, the government-backed interoperable e-commerce network has onboarded two startups – B2B trade platform Rapidor and sales and payments firm Signcatch.

The first B2B transaction took place on May 29 in Bengaluru amid a small group of network players, while the alpha testing had already begun in April last year, progressing to beta phase in September. This is targeted at micro, small, and medium enterprises to conduct B2B transactions. It has features like dynamic pricing, bulk order purchasing, and delivery scheduling. With this announcement, ONDC now directly competes with the likes of Amazon Business, IndiaMart, and Udaan.

“By fostering seamless connectivity and digital transformation, ONDC empowers businesses to overcome these hurdles (of limited credit access, high logistics costs, etc.) and embrace the advantages of B2B commerce. Leveraging the open network, businesses can expand their reach, forge new partnerships, and tap into previously untapped markets,” ONDC said in a statement. Further adding that the transition will help ONDC move away from ‘predominantly offline operations’.

ONDC is an open protocol developed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce for buyers, sellers, and loogistics operators to tap on. The protocol is free for now, but may levy a ‘small fee’, as told by  T Koshy, chief executive of ONDC to Mint in December last year. Companies like PhonePe, Paytm, and Meesho, along with global firms like Microsoft and Amazon have already joined the platform.