Pilot to onboard fair price shops to ONDC launched in Himachal Pradesh

Bengaluru: The Union commerce ministry's Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has launched a pilot in Himachal Pradesh to onboard fair price shops on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), said the network's chief executive T Koshy.

"The DFPD is funding the programme as a pilot with the help of MicroSave, which provides hand-holding support to fair price shops, and nStore as the technology partner," Koshy told ET.

The pilot was launched by placing the first order on February 6 in 11 fair price shops in Himachal Pradesh - five in Una and six in Hamirpur district. The programme will be expanded across the state, and DFPD aims to subsequently cover the entire country.


The pilot enables consumers in remote locations to access groceries and other essential products through ONDC, while also helping fair price shops to increase their utilisation and revenue from market goods.