RBI announces the launch of the first pilot for retail digital Rupee currency

Press Release: 2022-2023/1275, Dated 29.11.2022

Earlier, the RBI, in its Press Release dated October 31, 2022, indicated that the pilot in (e₹-R) would commence in a month’s time. Now, the RBI has announced the launch of the first pilot for retail digital Rupee (e₹-R) on December 01, 2022. The pilot would cover select locations in closed user group (CUG) comprising participating customers and merchants. The (e₹-R) would be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.

Users will be able to transact with (e₹-R) through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones/devices. Transactions can be both Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M).

RBI has identified Eight banks for phase-wise participation in this pilot. The first phase will begin with four banks, viz., State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities across the country.

Further, four more banks, viz., Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will join this pilot subsequently. The pilot would initially cover four cities, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar.

The (e₹-R) would offer features of physical cash like trust, safety and settlement finality. As in the case of cash, it will not earn any interest and can be converted to other forms of money, like bank deposits.

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