The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) organized its first-ever ONDC Startup Mahotsav lately at the Vanijya Bhawan in New Delhi. The event was mainly a collaboration between Startup India and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), both are the initiatives of DPIIT.

DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh highlighted the commitment of Indian government for the support of startups. He stated the event is a key moment for startups to understand the opportunities provided by ONDC.

Around 5,000 startups participated in-person as well as online. More than 125 key players in the Indian startup ecosystem signed Letters of Intent (LoI) to join the ONDC platform.

DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv emphasized the importance of continuous collaboration between startups and ONDC. He said that the startups are crucial to the ONDC ecosystem.

Registration is easy and startups just need to be operational for less than 10 years and should be a private limited company, a registered partnership firm, or a limited liability partnership. Moreover, their annual turnover should be under Rs 100 crore.

Simply visit nsws.gov.in to register. Sign up there. Choose your entity type and enter the PAN details as well as address of your company. Verifying the PAN is required with a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC). Validate your details. Access the dashboard, apply to register as a startup and thereafter fill in the application form with details about your startup such as logo, industry and representative details. Next, provide information about your employees, trademarks, innovation, scalability and funding as well. Explain the innovation and revenue model of your startup. Enter the Certificate of Incorporation and Authorisation Letter under ‘Self Certification.’ Accept the terms and submit the application. Approval usually takes about a week and after it is approved, download your ‘Certificate of Recognition’ with your DPIIT number.