RBI starts First Retail Digital Rupee Pilot in 13 Indian Cities With 8 Banks
India's central bank the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is launching its first retail digital rupee pilot on Dec 1. The Pilot will start in four cities and then expand to cover nine more cities across India.
The RBI expressed that the Pilot project start on Dec 1 including 8 banks and 13 cities cover.
Banks will participate in the retail digital currency pilot in two phases State Bank of India, ICICI Banks, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities in India will participate in the first phase. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will join in the second phase.
The pilot would cover four cities including Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar, and after extended to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla.
The e-Rupee would be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. the digital rupee will be issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued, the RBI adding that it would be distributed through intermediaries like Banks.
Users will be able to transact with e Rupee through a Digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones/devices the central bank detailed nothing that transactions can be person to person (P2P) or person to Merchant (P2M) Merchants will display QR codes that can be used for payments.
The e-Rupee offer features of physical cash it will not earn any interest and can be converted to other forms of money, like deposits with banks.
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