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

The initial phase will include more than 50 sellers in the food and beverage category. On December 22, a launch event will be held in Meerut, which is expected to be attended by officials from the Department for Promotion of Internal Trade (DPIIT). A number of unnamed startups and MSMEs are also expected to attend.

ONDC was first tested in Bengaluru in September and was scheduled to go live in Delhi last month, followed by Mumbai.

According to a source familiar with the situation, the Delhi launch has been postponed due to the recent Delhi Municipal election.

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

On Thursday, logistics services provider Delhivery announced that it is now live on ONDC to facilitate intercity express parcel movement across 18,000 Indian pin codes. Meesho, an ecommerce marketplace, also joined the network last month.

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