On this page · 11 sections
- What TEAM is, and why the end date is 31 March 2027
- Two versions of the rules
- Who is eligible: sellers and seller apps
- The money: what an SNP can claim per seller
- The milestone clock meets the 31 March wall
- What MSE sellers should do before 31 March 2027
- What seller apps (SNPs) should do before 31 March 2027
- After 31 March 2027: life without the incentives
- Will TEAM be extended?
- How eCorpIT can help
- References
Summary. The Ministry of MSME's Trade Enablement and Marketing (TEAM) initiative has a ₹277.35 crore outlay for FY 2024-25 to FY 2026-27, and the Ministry told Parliament it runs up to March 2027, so the term ends on 31 March 2027. It is a sub-scheme of the World Bank-supported RAMP programme, run by NSIC, with a target of 5 lakh micro and small enterprises (MSEs), half of them women-owned. The payment rules changed mid-term. Revised guidelines and an SOP dated November 2025, posted on the TEAM portal in February 2026, replaced the 2024 per-SKU table with a flat onboarding payment of ₹2,000 or ₹3,000 per seller, order milestones worth up to ₹12,000, and small per-order logistics and packaging incentives. The money goes to seller apps (SNPs), logistics providers and buyer apps, not to sellers. The sunset clause allows no committed liability beyond the term, so milestones reached after 31 March 2027 are at risk. As of 7 November 2026 we found no extension or successor, and the portal showed 274,558 registered MSEs. ONDC itself does not close; only the incentives do.
About this article. For micro and small businesses selling on ONDC, and the seller apps that onboard them. On 7 November 2026 we checked the terms against the June 2024 operating guidelines on the RAMP portal, the revised guidelines and SOP (Revised Version, November 2025) on the TEAM portal, PIB releases of written replies in Parliament, a Ministry sanction order and World Bank project records. This is not legal, tax or financial advice, scheme documents can change without notice, and no company paid for inclusion; confirm claim terms with NSIC or your seller app. Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team.
What TEAM is, and why the end date is 31 March 2027
TEAM was launched on 27 June 2024 to help small manufacturers and service businesses sell through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) instead of building their own e-commerce stack. NSIC is the implementing agency and ONDC the technical partner. It sits under Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP), a central sector scheme backed by the World Bank with a ₹6,062.45 crore outlay over FY 2022 to FY 2027 and a target of 555,000 MSMEs. A May 2026 PIB release expanded the acronym as Trade Enablement and Access to Market; the guidelines still say Trade Enablement and Marketing.
The guidelines set a three-year term, FY 2024-25 to FY 2026-27, and a December 2025 Rajya Sabha reply repeated the ₹277.35 crore outlay and the 5 lakh target. A July 2024 reply was more specific: TEAM runs up to March 2027, and MSMEs can keep joining ONDC afterwards because it is an open network. Both versions of the guidelines tell NSIC to leave no committed liability beyond the initiative's period, so treat any incentive for activity after 31 March 2027 as unpaid unless the Ministry extends the term.
The sunset clause also ends support if the corpus is fully committed first, but money does not look like the binding limit. In 2024-25 the Ministry released ₹1.91 crore to NSIC, which spent about ₹38.7 lakh on workshops, the portal and its own fee, and ₹1.52 crore lapsed. It then released ₹41.776 crore for the first half of 2025-26. The revised SOP lets the monitoring committee move unused money between components.
Two versions of the rules
The TEAM portal's Operating Guidelines and SOP links now open documents marked Revised Version, November 2025, uploaded on 16 February 2026. The RAMP portal still links the June 2024 guidelines, and the TEAM portal's FAQ page still quotes the 2024 amounts. The portal's dashboard reports claims by the ONDC categories the revised SOP uses, which suggests the revised rules now apply. The revised PDFs' internal titles still say draft, so ask NSIC or your seller app which version covers your claims, especially before February 2026.
The main differences, from the two sets of documents:
| Item | June 2024 guidelines | Revised version, November 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding and catalogue | ₹50 per SKU up to 50 SKUs (B2C) or ₹125 per SKU up to 20 SKUs (B2B), capped at ₹2,500 | ₹2,000 per seller in low-AOV categories, ₹3,000 in high-AOV, after two complete orders |
| Account management | 5% of net sales (B2C) or ₹250 per order (B2B), capped at ₹5,000 | Milestones of ₹2,000, ₹4,000 and ₹6,000, total ₹12,000 |
| Logistics | ₹50 (B2C) or ₹200 (B2B) per order for 10 orders, to the seller through the SNP | ₹50 per order to the logistics provider for the first 12 orders, on-network only |
| Packaging material | ₹20 (B2C) or ₹250 (B2B) per order for 10 orders | ₹20 per order to the SNP for the first 12 orders |
| Packaging design | 20% of cost or ₹2,000 through the Indian Institute of Packaging | Not listed |
| Buyer apps | ₹50 per order for up to 10 orders per seller | ₹40 or ₹60 per order in slabs that reset every 60 days |
| Time limit | Logistics, packaging and account support within 6 months of the first ONDC order | Milestone rates over 365 days, plus 10% for reaching Scale within 180 days |
| Sellers already on ONDC | Not eligible | Eligible, per the SOP |
| SNP cap | 20% of the budget for any one activity | 20% of the total SNP allocation |
AOV means average order value. The rest of this article follows the revised documents.
Who is eligible: sellers and seller apps
Sellers (MSEs). Udyam-registered micro and small enterprises in manufacturing or services qualify. Without GST, a seller can sell only within its state. It must not have taken similar help under another central or state scheme, and must let ONDC share its details and transactions with NSIC. Traders and medium enterprises can register and attend awareness events, but earn no incentives; a small enterprise that grows into a medium one stays eligible for a year after the change.
The rule on sellers already on ONDC is in flux. The 2024 guidelines excluded MSEs already on an SNP when the scheme began, and the portal's registration page still asks for a self-declaration that you are not an ONDC seller. The revised SOP lets sellers already on ONDC register and claim. If that is you, ask the helpdesk before you sign the declaration.
Seller apps (SNPs). An SNP, buyer app or logistics provider must be live on ONDC and not suspended or struck off. It registers on the TEAM portal, which gives it a login for claims, a Ministry empanelment certificate and permission to use TEAM branding.
How sellers register. An MSE enters its Udyam number and the mobile number on its Udyam record, adds turnover, PAN, GST if any, product category and the ONDC transaction type it wants, then picks an SNP or lets the portal assign one. Under the SOP, a seller that does not choose within 48 hours is matched by category and location.
The money: what an SNP can claim per seller
The revised SOP sorts ONDC categories by order value. Grocery, food and beverage, home and kitchen, health and wellness, and all services are low AOV, with a ₹150 minimum order. Fashion, beauty, electronics, appliances, automotive, hardware, building supplies and all B2B trade are high AOV, with a ₹300 minimum. The amounts below are from the SOP; the totals are our arithmetic.
| Payment, and who receives it | Low-AOV seller | High-AOV seller |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding and catalogue (SNP) | ₹2,000 after two complete orders | ₹3,000 after two complete orders |
| Initiation milestone (SNP) | ₹2,000 at 10 orders | ₹2,000 at 5 orders |
| Sustenance milestone (SNP) | ₹4,000 at 30 orders | ₹4,000 at 15 orders |
| Scale milestone (SNP) | ₹6,000 at 50 orders | ₹6,000 at 30 orders |
| Scale within 180 days (SNP) | ₹1,200, 10% of ₹12,000 | ₹1,200 |
| Packaging (SNP) | ₹20 on each of the first 12 orders, ₹240 | ₹240 |
| Logistics (logistics provider) | ₹50 on each of the first 12 orders, ₹600 | ₹600 |
| Most an SNP can earn per seller | ₹15,440 | ₹16,440 |
The conditions matter as much as the amounts:
- An order counts only if it is complete (no cancellation, return or loss) and above the minimum order value. ONDC's network data decides disputes.
- The seller must carry the MSME TEAM credential on the ONDC protocol, with Udyam verified.
- Each SNP payment goes to only one SNP per seller. A seller may switch SNPs at any stage, and the old SNP must hand over the catalogue, data and history.
- No SNP may claim more than 20% of the total SNP allocation; the same cap applies to buyer apps and logistics providers.
- Payments include GST, NSIC deducts TDS, and NSIC can audit claims, blacklist an SNP for fraud and recover money.
Buyer apps earn ₹40 or ₹60 per qualifying order, paid in slabs set by cumulative orders and the number of TEAM sellers served, resetting every 60 days.
A budget sanity check. ₹277.35 crore over 5 lakh MSEs is ₹5,547 each for everything, well below the ₹15,440 ceiling, so the corpus would bind if most sellers reached Scale. On 7 November 2026 the portal showed 274,558 registered MSEs, about 55% of the target, against 10,060 claims submitted, 42 SNPs and one logistics partner. Registration is not onboarding, and the likelier limit is the date.
The milestone clock meets the 31 March wall
The 2024 trap was the six-month window; the revised trap is order velocity. The SOP applies milestone rates over 365 days, the guidelines' copy of the table is headed 180 days, and neither says exactly when the clock starts. Either way, the term ends first for anyone starting now. The table shows complete orders a week needed to reach Scale by 31 March 2027.
| Seller goes live | Days to 31 March 2027 | Orders a week for Scale, low AOV (50) | Orders a week for Scale, high AOV (30) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November 2026 | 144 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| 1 December 2026 | 120 | 2.9 | 1.8 |
| 1 January 2027 | 89 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| 1 February 2027 | 58 | 6.0 | 3.6 |
| 1 March 2027 | 30 | 11.7 | 7.0 |
Days divided by 7 gives weeks; 50 or 30 orders divided by weeks gives the rate. Ask your SNP whether the two onboarding orders count.
A worked example. A women-owned business selling handmade cushion covers lists in home and kitchen, a low-AOV category, and goes live on 1 December 2026, leaving about 17 weeks. Two complete orders of ₹150 or more let the SNP claim ₹2,000. At one order a week she reaches about 17 orders by 31 March, adding Initiation (₹2,000) and ₹240 for packaging: ₹4,240 to the SNP, plus up to ₹600 to the logistics provider. At three a week she reaches about 51 orders, enough for all three milestones and the 180-day bonus: ₹15,440. The seller receives none of this directly, only the SNP's help.
All B2B trade is high AOV, so a component maker that moves 30 regular orders from phone and email onto ONDC by March could take its SNP to the full ₹16,440.
What MSE sellers should do before 31 March 2027
1. Check eligibility. Confirm your Udyam category is micro or small and your major activity is manufacturing or services, and that you have not taken similar help from a state ONDC programme.
2. Pick the SNP on its post-scheme terms. Ask each candidate in writing for its fees once TEAM ends, whether it handles logistics and returns, and whether you can export your catalogue and order history.
3. Get to two complete orders fast. Line up friendly first buyers, such as repeat customers, and keep each order above the minimum value. Cancelled or returned orders do not count.
4. Make the first 12 orders count. The logistics incentive applies only to shipments booked on the ONDC network. Ask your SNP whether it books that way.
5. Ask what you get in return. The money goes to your SNP, not you. Ask what it will do for you: catalogue photos, packaging, buyer-app promotion.
6. Keep your own records. Save invoices, delivery confirmations and SNP statements. NSIC can audit claims.
What seller apps (SNPs) should do before 31 March 2027
Triage leads by claim eligibility. Check each lead's Udyam category and activity before you spend onboarding effort, and keep the OTP consent on file.
Engineer the first two orders. Set the MSME TEAM credential and verified Udyam at onboarding, then push each seller to two complete orders within days.
Track milestone velocity. Measure time to 10, 30 and 50 orders (5, 15 and 30 for high AOV), and ask NSIC for the SNP allocation behind your 20% cap.
Tell late joiners the truth. A seller who goes live in February 2027 has about eight weeks of support, not a year. Say so at signup.
Claim monthly. Each claim declares that order payments have been settled with the seller, and ONDC data decides disputes. Reconcile every month, not in a March rush.
Plan for migration. Departing sellers are owed their catalogue and history; build that export now.
After 31 March 2027: life without the incentives
The end of TEAM takes no seller off ONDC. Listings and orders continue; only the government money stops.
| Area | Seller (MSE) | Seller app (SNP) |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | SNP commission or subscription applies in full | Revenue must come from sellers or value-added services |
| Demand | Buyer-app TEAM promotions end | Expect fewer funded campaigns from buyer apps |
| Catalogue | Keep it current; export a copy | Offer paid catalogue upkeep or AI tools |
| Logistics | Pay full shipping and packaging | Negotiate rates on aggregate volume |
| Data | Ask for order and buyer history export | Use TEAM-era data only within the consent given |
| Marketing | Budget for paid channels to replace funded visibility | Bundle ads or promotions as a paid service |
For sellers, the question is channel economics. In a July 2024 Rajya Sabha reply, the Ministry said ONDC commission would be lower than traditional e-commerce platforms charge. Test that against your seller app's post-scheme fees and your marketplace and direct-to-consumer margins; our ONDC versus quick commerce comparison and ONDC seller scale playbook cover both. If ONDC orders came mostly from funded promotions, plan paid marketing to replace them; our Google Ads playbook for AI Mode in India covers search. If you also run your own site, DPDP consent duties start in May 2027; see our DPDP consent guide for ad pixels and CRM.
For SNPs, the question is retention. Sellers who joined for free cataloguing will compare you with marketplaces once they pay full price. Apps that kept sellers selling through the milestones have a case.
On data. Sellers consented to ONDC sharing their details and transactions with NSIC for running the scheme. Treat any later use of TEAM-era data as needing its own basis.
Will TEAM be extended?
As of 7 November 2026 we found no notification, amendment or PIB release extending TEAM or naming a successor, though the Minister can approve changes on the monitoring committee's advice. RAMP, the parent scheme, also runs to FY 2027. Its World Bank loan had a 30 September 2026 closing date in the Bank's March 2026 status report, after a restructuring that cancelled $63.6 million; the Bank's project database now shows 31 March 2027. Both end together, so a longer TEAM would need a RAMP extension or new money.
Watch the Union Budget for 2027-28, normally presented on 1 February, written replies on TEAM in the Budget session, and notices on the TEAM and RAMP portals. Until one appears, plan on 31 March 2027 being the last day of support.
How eCorpIT can help
eCorpIT is a Gurugram-based technology organisation, founded in 2021, assessed at CMMI Level 5 and MSME certified, with senior-led engineering teams working across AWS, Microsoft and Google platforms. For MSE brands moving off funded ONDC visibility, our performance marketing services team plans paid search and social budgets with channel-level cost tracking. Talk to us at /contact-us/.
Last updated: 7 November 2026.
