Beckn Protocol
Federated Protocol
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License Permissive (Apache-2.0); https://github.com/beckn/protocol-specifications — OpenAPI YAML spec; https://github.com/beckn/protocol-specifications-v2 — v2.0 specification
Dev Status 🟢 Active
Dev Status Detail Released / Active (v2.0.0-rc1 End of Support on frozen branch; v2.0 active specification; ONDC operational in 600+ Indian cities; global deployments in energy, healthcare, mobility)
Owner FIDE (Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy) — stewards the protocol and community as of 2025; originally created by Sujith Nair and team at Beckn Foundation; Core Working Group governs specification evolution
Country India (originated; ONDC deployment; globally applicable)
Start Year 2020
Stack Language-agnostic (JSON over HTTP/HTTPS; OpenAPI specification; reference implementations in Node.js/TypeScript; Beckn ONIX — reference implementation stack — available for deployment)
Funding Foundation / Government (FIDE as steward; ONDC backed by Indian government via DPIIT; international deployments via public and private sector partnerships)
Last Investigated Jul 1, 2026
Federated Protocol Attributes
Origins Open commerce infrastructure (motivated by UPI's success as an open payments protocol; designed to replicate that model for any kind of commerce — "the UPI for commerce"; Sujith Nair background in India's Aadhaar and UPI digital infrastructure)
Database N/A (protocol specifies API semantics, not storage; each BAP and BPP manages its own data)
Query Language REST-like async API (search/on_search discovery; select/on_select, init/on_init, confirm/on_confirm, status/on_status, track/on_track, cancel/on_cancel, rating/on_rating, support/on_support call-callback pairs)
Data Formats JSON (all message payloads); OpenAPI schema; ONDC domain-specific extensions layered on core spec; cryptographically signed messages (request signing for authenticity and non-repudiation)
Collaborative Live Editing N/A (commerce transaction protocol; not a collaborative editing tool)
Rich Text Editing N/A
Mobile Support Yes (any HTTP client; BAP apps are commonly mobile-first; Beckn ONIX supports mobile consumer apps)
Web Support Yes (HTTP/HTTPS native; web BAP applications are primary deployment surface)
Native Apps Yes (native mobile apps as BAPs; BPP server applications; Beckn Gateway infrastructure)
Terms Free / Open source (Apache-2.0; no licensing fees; Beckn ONIX reference implementation freely available)
Funds Not separately disclosed (ONDC is government-backed; FIDE operates as foundation; Beckn Foundation and associated entities supported by ecosystem participants)
Based On HTTP/HTTPS (transport); JSON/OpenAPI (data format); cryptographic signing (request authentication); conceptually inspired by UPI (Universal Payments Interface) model applied to commerce
Content Addressing No (resources addressed by URL and catalog IDs, not content hashes)
E2EE No (messages are signed for authenticity and non-repudiation but not end-to-end encrypted between BAP and BPP; transport security via HTTPS)
Signature Ed25519 (HTTP request signing for authentication and non-repudiation; cryptographic signatures provide court-admissible proof of transaction intent per Indian e-governance guidelines)
Permissions Key-based (subscriber registration in network registry; signed requests authenticate participants; BAP and BPP authorized by registry lookup)
Semantic Web Compatibility N/A (JSON API protocol; no RDF, JSON-LD, or semantic web features in core spec)
Federation Model Hub-and-Spoke (Beckn Gateways multicast search requests to registered BPPs; otherwise BAP and BPP communicate peer-to-peer via direct callback URLs; network registries list participants)
Instance / Server Requirements Moderate — BAP and BPP require HTTP server with callback endpoint; Beckn Gateway (BG) is more demanding as it multicasts all discovery requests; subscriber registry required per network; Beckn ONIX reference stack simplifies deployment
Account Portability Full portability (provider/buyer identities are not locked to any gateway or registry; any conformant BAP/BPP can switch network participation by re-registering; identity anchored to public key + subscriber URL)
Discovery / Relay Architecture Gateway-mediated discovery (BAP sends search to Beckn Gateway; Gateway multicasts to all registered BPPs matching the domain; responses return directly to BAP via callback; no global firehose)
Server Authority Model Minimal / Network-governed (each BAP and BPP is independently operated; Gateways facilitate discovery without controlling transaction content; network registries set participation rules; no single operator governs all participants)
Protocol Maturity / Standardization De Facto Standard (v2.0 specification active; deployed at national scale via ONDC in India (600+ cities, millions of transactions); international deployments in energy, mobility, healthcare; Apache-2.0; Core Working Group governance; not submitted to IETF or ISO)
Data Sovereignty Distributed (each participant stores its own data; no central platform holds transaction data; buyers' personal data governed by each BAP's privacy policy)