New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced the launch of the first pilot for retail digital Rupee on December 1 in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar in closed user groups, comprising customers and merchants.
It will be later extended to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla, an official notification said.
Eight banks have been identified for phase-wise participation in this pilot. The first phase will begin with State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities across the country. Four more banks – Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank – will join this pilot subsequently.
The e₹-R would be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. It would be issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued. It would be distributed through intermediaries (banks).
The notification further said that the 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).
Payments to merchants can be made using QR codes displayed at merchant locations. The e₹-R would offer features of physical cash like trust, safety and settlement finality.
Besides, it will not earn any interest and can be converted to other forms of money, like deposits with banks.
Notably, the pilot for a central-bank-backed digital rupee for the wholesale segment was launched on November 1.
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