With the involvement of eight institutions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is starting its first retail digital rupee trial on December 1. Starting with four cities, the pilot will eventually include nine more cities across India.
8 banks and 13 cities are chosen by RBI to test retail digital currency
The “first pilot for retail digital rupee (e-R)” will commence on December 1st, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Following the RBI’s wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial, which got underway on November 1, this notification was made.
In two phases, the retail digital currency experiment will involve eight institutions. Four banks from throughout India will take part in the first phase: State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank. The second phase will include participation from Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The central bank of India explained:
“The pilot would initially cover four cities, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar, and later extend to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla.”
The scope of [the] pilot may be expanded gradually to include more banks, users, and locations as needed,” the RBI clarified.
In case you are not aware
The central bank of India outlined: The e-R would take the shape of a digital token that stands in for money.
The central bank stated that the digital rupee will be distributed through intermediaries like banks and will be produced in the same denominations as present paper money and coins.
The central bank explained that users would be able to interact using e-R through a digital wallet provided by the collaborating institutions and kept on mobile devices, emphasizing that P2P or P2M transactions were also possible (P2M). Payment-accepting QR codes will be shown by retailers.
