On December 1, RBI will introduce the digital rupee for retail consumers.
PANAJI, NOV 29 : On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that the first retail digital rupee pilot programme would begin on December 1st, 2022.
According to a statement from the RBI, the pilot would apply to a few locations in closed user groups (CUG) made up of participating customers and retailers, and the e-R would take the form of a digital token that serves as legal cash.
The e-R would be distributed through middlemen, such as banks, in the same denominations as paper money and coins are currently given in.
Through a digital wallet provided by the participating banks and kept on mobile phones or other devices, customers would be able to transact with e-R. Both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant transactions are possible (P2M).
QR codes that are displayed at retail places can be used to make payments to retailers. The e-R would provide characteristics of actual money, such as trust, safety, and settlement finality. It can be converted into other types of money, such as bank deposits, but it will not accrue interest, as is the case with cash, according to the statement.
The pilot will assess the stability of the complete creation, distribution, and retail use of digital rupees in real time.
Based on the lessons learned from this pilot, other aspects and uses of the e-R token and architecture will be evaluated in further pilots, the central bank stated.
Eight banks have been chosen to take part in this pilot project in phases. The first phase would start with four banks in four locations throughout the nation: State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank.
Following that, this pilot will include participation from four other banks: Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar would be the first four cities the pilot would cover. Later, Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla would also be included.
According to the statement, “the pilot’s scope may be gradually expanded to cover more banks, users, and locations as needed.”(PHN)
