Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said, the beta version of a new e-commerce platform would be rolled out in a few months to benefit the rural and small traders as well as consumers across the country. During Question hour in the Lok Sabha today, he said the new platform is being launched under the Open Network for Digital Commerce initiative to help small retailers who cannot otherwise participate in the e-retailing processes, including in the privately managed systems that are now available. He said the new platform would provide a level playing field, adding that it will also help consumers to get the product of their choice from anywhere in the nation including from remote villages.<br />''<br />''Mr Piyush Goyal further said, the users can make a search for their required product in the new platform, which will show them thousands of available choices from across the country. He said necessary firewalls will be installed in the platform to ensure data protection. He assured that necessary protocols on cataloguing of the products and on managing the orders will be put in place in the new system. He said the sanctity of the purchasing process including the maintenance of records on the warranty of the products will also be ensured.<br />