UPSC Previous Year Question | Prelims GS | 2026

Which one of the following best describes the key objective of India's 'Open Network for Digital Commerce' (ONDC) initiative?

  1. To allow government control over all digital commerce transactions
  2. To replace private e-commerce players
  3. To break the dominance of large e-commerce platforms by enabling interoperability across networks
  4. To mandate UPI-based payments for all online transactions

Answer

Correct Answer

To break the dominance of large e-commerce platforms by enabling interoperability across networks

Explanation

ONDC is an open, interoperable network intended to move digital commerce away from closed platform-centric systems. By allowing different buyer and seller applications to interact across a common network, it aims to widen market access for smaller businesses, retailers and MSMEs and reduce dependence on dominant platforms.

Topics: digital commerce, e-commerce, economy, ondc