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Trial programme for retail digital rupee: The first pilot for retail digital rupee will commence on December 1, according to a statement from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The closed user group for the pilot will consist of participating customers and business owners and will cover a few specific regions.
RBI to begin a trial programme for retail digital rupee: Key Points
- On November 1, 2022, the central bank launched the first pilot in the wholesale sector.
- The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital representation of RBI-issued banknotes.
- The RBI previously stated that the digitalization of money is the next significant development in the history of money when issuing the concept note on CBDC.
- Technology development has enabled the creation of a new currency called CBDC.
- A digital token that stands in for legal cash will be used to represent the retail digital rupee.
- It would be distributed in the same denominations that coins and paper money are now distributed in. Banks would handle the distribution.
- Through a digital wallet made available by the participating banks and kept on users’ mobile phones or other devices, users will be able to conduct transactions using the virtual rupee.
- 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.
Features of trial programme for retail digital rupee:
Features of real money like trust, safety, and settlement finality will be offered by the retail digital rupee. 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, various aspects and applications of the digital rupee token and architecture would be examined in subsequent pilots, the RBI said.
Eight banks have been chosen to take part in this pilot project in phases. Four banks—State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC Initial Bank—will launch the first phase in four different locations across the nation. Later on, this pilot will include four more banks: Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
