MSME TEAM Scheme 2026: ONDC Seller Onboarding, Eligibility and Costs

1. ONDC is a network, not one shopping app

ONDC is an open network that connects different buyer applications, seller applications and service providers through common protocols. A customer may discover a seller through one buyer app while the seller is connected through a different seller app. That is why an ONDC seller does not simply create one profile on a single central marketplace and wait for orders.

The Seller Network Participant is an important operating partner. ONDC says the seller-side participant connects the business through a seller application, digitises its catalogue, disperses payments and trains sellers on e-commerce practices that support reliable fulfilment. Some seller apps also offer logistics or other services; those are separate commercial choices to check.

• Seller app / Seller Network Participant: onboarding, KYC, catalogue connection and seller-side operations.
• Buyer app / Buyer Network Participant: the customer-facing discovery and ordering experience.
• Logistics provider: pickup and delivery, where the seller chooses or the transaction requires network logistics.
• Seller: product accuracy, stock, pricing, invoices, packing, dispatch and the underlying customer promise.

2. What the MSME TEAM initiative is intended to support

The Ministry of MSME launched the Trade Enablement and Marketing (TEAM) initiative on 27 June 2024 under the RAMP programme. The Ministry's published page lists an outlay of ₹277.35 crore for FY 2024–25 to FY 2026–27 and a target of five lakh Micro and Small Enterprises, with 50% intended to be women-owned. The programme is implemented by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), with ONDC as the technical partner.

The latest government participation snapshot located for this guide was a Rajya Sabha reply published on 9 March 2026. It reported that, as of 31 December 2025, approximately 206,000 merchants had completed at least one transaction on ONDC. It also reported around six lakh service providers with services available on the network and 3,127 MSMEs generating more than 100,000 transactions through the TEAM initiative during that financial year. These are participation measures, not a promise that an individual seller will receive orders or earn a particular amount. The cited official figures do not establish typical per-seller revenue, net margin or order frequency, so this guide does not infer seller earnings from network-wide transaction counts.

The operating guidelines describe support for catalogue preparation, account management, logistics, packaging material and packaging design. The support is structured through the programme and its participating organisations; it should not be read as an unconditional cash grant paid directly to every applicant.

• Catalogue support: ₹50 per B2C SKU up to 50 SKUs, or ₹125 per B2B SKU up to 20 SKUs, capped at ₹2,500 per MSE.
• Account-management incentive to the Seller Network Participant: for B2C, 5% of net sales up to ₹5,000 per MSE; for B2B, ₹250 per transaction up to ₹5,000 per MSE.
• Logistics support: ₹50 per B2C order or ₹200 per B2B order, each for up to 10 orders per MSE.
• Packaging material support: ₹20 per B2C order or ₹250 per B2B order, each for up to 10 orders per MSE.

3. Check eligibility before paying anyone to onboard you

The published TEAM operating guidelines describe eligibility for Udyam-registered Micro and Small Enterprises in manufacturing and services. They state that the MSE should not have been onboarded on any Seller Network Participant as of the initiative's operationalisation date and should not have received similar assistance under another Central or State Government programme. If your enterprise is primarily classified as trading, do not assume that the manufacturing/services eligibility wording automatically covers it; confirm your current position with the official TEAM portal or NSIC before making plans.

The guidelines say that an MSE holding a Udyam registration certificate without GST registration can undertake only intra-state online business, subject to applicable law. That is not a blanket exemption from GST or other product-specific licences. The correct route depends on the seller's status, the nature of supply, turnover, state and the actual transaction model.

A few support conditions matter commercially. For example, the seller must have successfully delivered at least two ONDC orders before the Seller Network Participant can claim the catalogue-support benefit. The guidelines also set a time window for certain account-management, logistics and packaging benefits after the first ONDC transaction, and limit which participant can claim benefits for a given MSE. Read the current scheme documents rather than relying on a sales message that says every benefit is automatic.

• Keep the Udyam certificate and verify that the enterprise is classified as Micro or Small.
• Confirm the manufacturing, services or trading classification used in the current scheme route.
• Ask whether an earlier seller-app onboarding or similar government assistance affects eligibility.
• Check the current portal, application status, required declarations and available support before signing a paid service contract.
• Do not share OTPs, passwords or bank credentials with an onboarding agent.

4. Choose the seller app like you would choose a business partner

Use ONDC's live participant directory to identify Seller Network Participants and then check the provider's own terms. ONDC explicitly says that its participant directory is for information and does not mean ONDC endorses the listed organisations or their services. Verify the legal entity, support contacts, grievance route and the exact seller app you will use.

Ask for written answers before onboarding: What is the seller-app fee and what amount is it calculated on? Is a buyer-app finder fee additional? Are logistics optional? Who collects the buyer's payment and who pays the seller? What is the settlement cycle? Who handles cancellations, returns, refunds, delivery disputes and complaints? Can you export your catalogue and order history if you leave?

The service market is not one uniform price. EcomSarthi's public ONDC onboarding page describes seller-app selection, KYC, catalogue readiness, logistics mapping, payment flow, support and a first-90-day plan, but does not show a fixed ONDC onboarding price on that page. Its broader account-management page states monthly plans from ₹2,999 to ₹7,999. Zaroori Retail publishes a much higher starting retainer for broader multi-marketplace management. These are provider service fees and are not ONDC network charges; compare the actual deliverables, not just the headline price.

5. There is no single ONDC seller commission

An ONDC order can include more than one commercial charge. The buyer app may charge a buyer-finder fee; the seller app may charge its own fee; logistics may be charged if you use that service; and GST may apply to service fees. The buyer-app fee can vary by buyer app and product category. Do not assume that a fee shown by one seller app is the rate for every ONDC participant.

For a concrete provider-specific example, Mystore's published fee page says that, effective 1 June 2025, its seller-app fee is 1% for orders from the Mystore buyer app and 3% for orders from other buyer apps, with GST extra. The same page says the buyer-app fee is separate and varies by buyer app and category, while network logistics charges are optional when that service is used. These are Mystore's disclosed terms, not a universal ONDC tariff. Recheck the provider's current fee page and contract before signing.

• Product cost and inward freight.
• Packaging, labels and any category-specific handling.
• Seller-app fee and separate buyer-app fee, where charged.
• Shipping or logistics charge and any remote-area surcharge.
• Discounts, promotions, advertising and customer-acquisition cost.
• Expected return, cancellation, damage and refund cost.
• Applicable GST on the sale and on service fees, plus any tax deductions or collections that apply to the transaction model.

6. Calculate contribution per order before uploading the full catalogue

Use a per-SKU calculation, not a broad statement that ONDC is cheaper than a large marketplace. Start with the actual selling price and subtract product cost, packaging, logistics, seller-app fee, buyer-app fee, discount, expected return cost and any paid promotion. Add the cost of your own time or fulfilment labour if it is material. The result is the contribution available to cover overhead and profit.

Example: on a ₹1,000 order, a 3% seller-app fee under the Mystore rate for orders from other buyer apps would be ₹30 before GST on that fee. That ₹30 is only one line in the calculation. It does not include the buyer-app fee, delivery, packaging, returns, discount or tax treatment. If you cannot get every fee and settlement deduction in writing, do not treat the order economics as final.

Start with a small group of products that have reliable stock, clear photos, accurate weights and dimensions, enough margin for delivery and a low likelihood of damage or returns. A catalogue of 100 poorly prepared SKUs is not necessarily better than 5 well-prepared products that can be dispatched consistently.

7. Confirm GST, tax and product licences for your exact model

Do not copy another seller's GST setup. ONDC's tax guidance explains that the tax treatment can depend on the seller-app model, who collects payment, whether the seller is GST-registered, whether the supply is intra-state or inter-state, who arranges logistics and how discounts are funded. The guidance itself advises sellers and network participants to assess their own arrangements with tax advisers; it is not a substitute for current legal or tax advice. Its page also carries a disclaimer that the underlying material was updated only up to 13 December 2022, so use it to identify questions—not as a current rate card—and verify today's rules with a qualified professional.

Before go-live, confirm the seller's GSTIN or permitted enrolment route, HSN/SAC classification, invoice responsibility, place-of-supply treatment and any TCS/TDS reporting that applies. Food, cosmetics, health products, electronics and other regulated categories may need additional licences, declarations or product records. A recent FoodEntrepreneurIndia discussion illustrates how sellers can be unsure which e-commerce business model to select in an FSSAI application when selling across several channels. Treat community discussion as a prompt to check the official category rules, not as the rule itself.

8. Map fulfilment, customer support and settlement before launch

A seller account can be technically active and still fail commercially if stock is inaccurate, dispatch is late or no one owns a customer complaint. Decide who receives the order alert, who confirms stock, who packs, who books or hands over the shipment, who uploads the invoice and who responds when delivery is delayed. Set a daily inventory-update routine and keep a record of cancellations and return reasons.

Ask the seller app to explain the exact refund and grievance workflow. A historical Reddit consumer post described a delayed ONDC food order where the buyer struggled to work out whether the restaurant, logistics provider or network contact should resolve the problem. It is one person's account, not a measure of all ONDC transactions, but it highlights why sellers should know the escalation owner before the first order.

Reconcile every settlement against the order ID: gross value, discounts, buyer-app fee, seller-app fee, logistics, tax deductions or collections, refunds and final bank credit. A recent r/indianstartups thread asked sellers how much of their business came from ONDC and how they reconciled settlements; one reply described ONDC as a small share of orders and the reconciliation as detailed. The discussion is small and anecdotal, but the questions are sensible ones to build into a weekly report.

9. A practical 30-day ONDC readiness plan

Do not begin by uploading everything. Use the first month to prove that a small, reliable product set can be discovered, fulfilled, supported and reconciled. If you are applying under TEAM, follow the official portal and its current process; do not pay a private intermediary on the assumption that it can guarantee scheme approval.

• Days 1–5 — verify Udyam and category eligibility, tax status, product licences, bank details and the scheme's current availability.
• Days 6–10 — compare two or three eligible seller apps; collect fee sheets, settlement terms, grievance contacts and exit/data-export conditions.
• Days 11–15 — prepare 5–10 priority SKUs with accurate titles, attributes, images, prices, stock, dimensions and packaging.
• Days 16–20 — confirm dispatch, returns, refund, customer support and invoice workflows; test the internal hand-off with a controlled operational checklist.
• Days 21–30 — review actual orders and settlements; calculate contribution by SKU; record views, orders, cancellations, returns, delivery time and unresolved support tickets before expanding.

Frequently asked questions

Is ONDC free for sellers? There is no single universal seller charge. The seller app, buyer app and logistics provider can have separate commercial terms. Ask for the full fee and settlement breakdown before onboarding.

Does the MSME TEAM scheme give every seller a cash subsidy? No. The published guidelines describe capped support routed through programme participants and service providers, with eligibility, claim and transaction conditions. It is not a guaranteed cash payment or order guarantee.

Can a business without GST registration sell through ONDC? The published TEAM guidelines describe limited intra-state online business for eligible Udyam-registered MSEs without GST, subject to applicable law. Confirm your exact status and restrictions with a qualified GST professional and the seller app.

Will joining ONDC automatically bring customers? No. Product-market fit, category availability, buyer-app discovery, local serviceability, pricing, catalogue quality, stock and fulfilment all affect results.

Should every small business join ONDC? No. It is worth evaluating when the business has reliable products or services, a workable margin, fulfilment capacity and a clear reason to add another digital channel. Compare it with your own website and existing marketplaces before committing.

Official sources and further reading

Use the Ministry of MSME's current TEAM portal and the published operating guidelines for eligibility and support conditions. Use ONDC's participant directory and the seller app's current written terms for provider selection and commercial fees. Government and ONDC sources take precedence over agency blogs or social-media claims; Reddit is included only to illustrate questions and experiences that sellers and buyers have discussed.