RBI’s Retail CBDC Pilot

Revealed November 29, 2022

As per the press release, the first pilot of retail e-rupees, a version of CBDC by the Reserve Bank of India, will start on December 1.

The pilot will cover selected locations of a Closed User Group (CUG) made up of participating customers and merchants.

According to RBI, the digital rupee in the retail segment comes in the form of digital tokens, which are legal tender.

It will be issued in the same denomination as paper currency and coins currently in circulation.

Transactions can be both Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M).

The first phase will begin with four banks namely State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities.

Whereas other four banks namely Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will join this pilot subsequently.