Microsoft has joined Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in India and plans to introduce social e-commerce in the country. ONDC is a government initiative to reimagine digital commerce in India and Microsoft is the first big tech company to join the government-backed project. A social commerce retail app is expected to be launched by the American tech giant. ONDC is heading for its launch in Bengaluru this August. A report in June had revealed that ONDC had begun lining up banks and other key players needed to move the initiative forward.

Microsoft has become the first tech giant to join ONDC, a government initiative that is aimed at promoting open networks for digital exchange of good and services. This is the government’s effort to break Amazon and Walmart’s dominance in the e-commerce sector. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft is expected to launch a social commerce retail app in India.

To recall, ONDC is heading for its launch in Bengaluru this month. As a part of the launch, the project had organised a webinar explaining features of ONDC including how it would influence the e-commerce space in India, how a live transaction will work, and why should people opt ONDC for their business, among others.

A report in June had revealed that ONDC had begun lining up banks and other key players needed to move the initiave forward. Some of the country’s biggest banks are in discussions about setting up “buyer platforms” to let their customers place orders for goods and services on the ONDC, which the government soft-launched in April.

ONDC is expected to provide equal access to all online sellers and buyers in India, regardless of their size. Policymakers in other countries as well are looking at ways in which they can rein over the big tech companies’ dominance of online purchases.