On December 1, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India will announce that the first pilot programme for retail digital rupees (e-R) would begin.
“The closed user group (CUG), which consists of taking part customers and retailers, would cover a few selected locations for the pilot. The e-R would be presented as a digital token that serves as money. It would be distributed in the same denominations as current coins and paper money. Through intermediaries, such as banks, it would be distributed “a statement from the RBI read.
Users will be able to conduct transactions with e₹-R using a mobile-based digital wallet provided by the partner banks. According to the central bank, transactions can be made Person to Merchant (P2M) and Person to Person (P2P) for business.
Payments to retailers can be made using the QR codes that are displayed at retail locations.
Eight banks will take part first
In addition, the RBI has selected eight banks to participate in this pilot initiative over time. The initial phase would be introduced by four banks — State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC Initial Bank — in four locations. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will later be a part of this project.
The first cities where the experiment would be implemented are Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar. Shimla, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Gangtok will also be included. According to the RBI, the pilot’s parameters may be gradually expanded to accommodate more banks, users, and locations.
Earlier this month, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the bank would conduct a parallel retail e-rupee experiment to the wholesale e-rupee pilot.
The RBI’s overall goal, according to Das, is to fully deploy the CBDC “in the near future,” declining to provide a specific timeframe.
Reserve Bank Of India announces the launch of the first pilot for retail digital Rupee (e₹-R)
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“I won’t give a target date for when the CBDC will be completely implemented since we must proceed with extreme caution in this area. It is being performed for the first time on the entire planet. We want to avoid moving too hastily, “he remarked.
There will be certain technical and administrative obstacles, so the RBI will want to address all of them and launch the CBDC in a way that is not disruptive, he said.
Today, the central bank announced a pilot programme that will test the stability of the entire creation, distribution, and retail use of digital rupees in real time. Based on the lessons learned from this pilot, various aspects and uses of the e₹- R token and architecture will be evaluated in further pilots.
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