RBI likely to launch digital rupee pilot for interbank transactions by October: Report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to launch the pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market by this October, Central Bank Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary said on Sunday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here, Choudhary said, “The RBI will introduce the wholesale CBDC in the call market either this month or next month.”

In November 2022, the pilot of the wholesale CBDC, known as the Digital Rupee-Wholesale (e-W), was launched with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities, according to PTI reports. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the introduction of CBDC in the Union Budget 2022-23 and necessary amendments to the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934, were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.

The RBI picked nine banks -- State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank, and HSBC -- for its pilot project for wholesale CBDC, PTI reported. 

In addition, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (e-R) on December 1, 2022. The e-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.

It is being issued in the same denominations as the paper currency and coins. It is being distributed through financial intermediaries like banks. Users can transact with e-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks, as per PTI reports. 

The RBI is showcasing various digital initiatives in the financial sector at the exhibition pavilion during the G20 Summit. These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go, and Bharat Bill Payment System.

(With PTI inputs)