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While all eyes are on the launch of the much-awaited Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the government has asked the network to work on a robust grievance redressal system. 

The grievance redressal system has to be as good as some with major ecommerce companies, the government instructed, according to a Business Standard report. Moreover, the network needs to develop this redressal system before its launch for select public users.

While the team is developing a detailed plan to build trust in the network before it becomes available to the public, a strategy will be devised and submitted to the government by September end, a government official said as cited in the report.

“A few years ago, not many people wanted to shop on ecommerce platforms. However, because of the systems that companies in this space built, such as ease of returning products and a plethora of choices available to customers, these platforms became very popular. When ONDC is launched, it will be judged and benchmarked against these platforms,” the official said.

It must be noted that ONDC may make its public debut in one or two cities later this month, Union Minister for Industry and Commerce Piyush Goyal reportedly said. 

The minister also empahsised that the government would properly test the platform before making a public launch as it is in no hurry to just rush into a launch.

“I want to make sure that when we come up for public launch, it’s well tried and tested and has sufficient capacity to handle large volumes,” Goyal said.

As the government wants to make the network robust, it has asked ONDC to figure out all possible scenarios including detailed processes, and responsibility for each and every stakeholder involved in a transaction.

ONDC has been asked to prepare an entire framework and share it in the public domain to receive comments from all stakeholders. The network has been given a deadline of September end.

With ONDC, the government wants to unbundle the existing opportunities in the closed ecommerce network and create a level playing field even for the smallest sellers. The commerce ministry-led initiative was established in December 2021.

India’s total addressable ecommerce market opportunity is projected to reach $400 Bn by 2030, according to an Inc42 report.