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The Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) is set to commence beta testing in Meerut next week, making it the first Tier II city to go live on the network.

The initial phase will involve more than 50 sellers in the food and beverage category, according to correspondence sent to members earlier today. A launch event will be conducted on December 22 in Meerut which is likely to be attended by officials of the Department for Promotion of Internal Trade (DPIIT). Several unnamed startups and MSMEs are also expected to attend the event.

YourStory has seen a copy of the correspondence sent to ONDC participants.

ONDC was first launched in beta testing mode in Bengaluru in September and was expected to go live in Delhi last month, followed by Mumbai.

The Delhi launch is said to have been delayed due to the Delhi Municipal election held last week, according to a person aware of the matter.

ONDC did not immediately respond to queries sent by YourStory.

Meerut in Uttar Pradesh will be the first Tier II city for ONDC to go live officially. The platform’s pilot launch started in April in five cities, namely, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore, with a closed user group. This has now grown to 85 cities.

Logistics services provider Delhivery on Thursday announced that it is now live on ONDC to facilitate intercity express parcel movement across 18,000 pin codes in India. Ecommerce marketplace Meesho too joined the network last month.