EXPLAINER
The story so far: The government of India announced the launch of the pilot phase of open network for digital commerce (ONDC) in five cities in late April with an aim to “democratise” the country’s fast growing digital e-commerce space that is currently dominated by the two U.S.-headquartered firms — Amazon and Walmart. The announcement was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “After UPI, another game changing idea to democratise commerce — ONDC soft launch today to select consumers, sellers and logistics providers. Get ready for a world of choice, convenience and transparency,” Mr Goyal had tweeted.
