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Bharatiya Janata Party · 2024
Claim
Unverifiable
Delivery
Too early to assess
The architecture is as described and the take-up is not reported. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry explained to Parliament on 22 July 2025 what ONDC is — 'a Section 8 company… ONDC is not an e-commerce platform or a marketplace but an open protocol on which platforms/marketplace can be built' — and how interoperability is meant to work: 'A seller onboarded through any ONDC-compliant seller application becomes discoverable to all ONDC-compliant buyer applications.' What the answer contains no figure for is adoption: not sellers onboarded, not transactions, not order value, not the number of buyer or seller applications live on the network. The promise is to encourage adoption; without adoption data it cannot be graded.
“Empowering Small Traders and MSMEs with ONDC — We will encourage small traders and MSMEs to adopt ONDC and expand their businesses using the power [of the open network].”No CAG performance audit published
No CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published. The absence of an audit is not evidence that the claim is either accurate or inaccurate.
No CAG audit of ONDC has been tabled. ONDC is a Section 8 company rather than a government scheme, so its operating data is not published through the usual scheme reporting channels.
No audit period to plot — no CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published.
No sellers-onboarded, transaction or order-value figure published in the ministry's answer
The ministry describes the mechanism by which ONDC is meant to lower customer acquisition cost — widening the customer pool and letting sellers reach buyers on other platforms — without reporting whether it has.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 400, Open Network for Digital Commerce — answer by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
The 2024 manifesto mentions ONDC twice: once as a channel through which women's self-help group products should reach markets, and once as a commitment of its own — "We will encourage small traders and MSMEs to adopt ONDC and expand their businesses using the power" of the open network.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry's answer of 22 July 2025 is a good explanation of what ONDC is, and it corrects a common misunderstanding worth repeating: "ONDC is not an e-commerce platform or a marketplace but an open protocol on which platforms/marketplace can be built." It is a Section 8 company running a set of protocols. Sellers join through a seller application, buyers through a buyer application, and the network makes them mutually discoverable: "A seller onboarded through any ONDC-compliant seller application becomes discoverable to all ONDC-compliant buyer applications, enhancing market access and reducing the cost of customer acquisition."
The theory of change is set out clearly — widen the customer pool by bringing "digitally underserved and unserved consumers into the e-commerce ecosystem", and let sellers reach buyers sitting on platforms they have not themselves joined. Against the concentration of Indian e-commerce in two or three large marketplaces, that is a serious structural idea.
What the answer does not contain is any number. Not sellers onboarded, not transactions, not order value, not retention, not how many buyer and seller applications are live. A question that asked specifically whether ONDC has reduced customer acquisition and transaction costs "and if so, the details thereof" is answered with the mechanism by which it would, not evidence that it has.
Some of that reflects ONDC's structure: it is a company, not a scheme, so its operating metrics do not flow through the usual parliamentary reporting. ONDC publishes some figures on its own dashboards. But a manifesto promise to encourage adoption is a promise about a quantity, and the ministry that made the promise does not report the quantity to Parliament.
The term runs to 2029 and delivery is recorded as too early. The accuracy is recorded as unverifiable, because on the evidence available there is nothing to verify.
BJP Sankalp Patra 2024 — Modi Ki Guarantee
“This Sankalp Patra outlines the collective aspirations and goals of our nation, by our nation and for our nation. As you have seen in the last ten years, it is Modi's Guarantee that every promise made is fulfilled… In the next five years, with your blessings, it is Modi's Guarantee that we will work 24 by 7 for 2047.”
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 400, Open Network for Digital Commerce — answer by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
“Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a Section 8 company, is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)… aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. ONDC reduces the cost of customer acquisition and transaction processing for sellers by enabling a decentralized and interoperable network. ONDC is not an e-commerce platform or a marketplace but an open protocol on which platforms/marketplace can be built. Unlike conventional e-commerce platforms, ONDC fosters direct interactions between buyers and sellers across multiple platforms, reducing dependency on any single entity. A seller onboarded through any ONDC-compliant seller application becomes discoverable to all ONDC-compliant buyer applications, enhancing market access and reducing the cost of customer acquisition… i. Interoperability: Sellers onboarded on any platform within the ONDC [network become discoverable across it].”