New Delhi: Government’s agricultural marketing company National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF) on Monday started selling tomatoes at a subsidized rate of Rs 70 per kg through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
“We have partnered with ONDC for sale of tomatoes in Delhi NCR,” NCCF Managing Director Anees Joseph Chandra told ANI.
Set up on December 31, 2021, ONDC moves beyond the current platform-centric digital commerce model, where buyer and seller have to be digitally visible and use the same platform or application to conduct business transactions.
Consumers can place their orders daily from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm and the delivery will be done the next day.
“There will be home delivery at no extra cost to the consumer,” he added.
Chandra said initially tomatoes will be made available through ONDC-listed buyers’ apps such as Paytm, MagicPin, MyStore and Pincode.
“The interface is simple and user friendly. Consumers can easily order tomatoes at the rate of Rs 70 per kg by visiting these apps. Quantity is limited to 2 kgs only per order.
At present, e-commerce companies are providing doorstep delivery at around Rs 170-180 per kg.
Tomato prices have registered a sharp rise across the country, and are not restricted to any particular region or geography. It increased to Rs 150-200 per kg in major cities.
In a further relief to consumers, the central government last Wednesday said it has directed its marketing agencies – NAFED and NCCF – to sell tomatoes at Rs 70 per kg instead of Rs 80.
The retail sale of tomatoes procured by the National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) was initially Rs 90 per kg and then reduced to Rs 80 per kg with effect from July 16, 2023, and now to Rs 70.
Amid a sharp jump in tomato prices across the country, the agencies – NCCF and Nafed – have started procuring tomatoes from mandis in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra for simultaneous disposal in major consumption centres, where retail prices have registered maximum increase in the last one month.
The government attributed the rise in prices to the monsoon season, which added to distribution challenges and increased transit losses. (ANI)
This report is automatically generated from ANI news service. ThePrint takes no responsibility for its content.