Reliance Retail to now accept Digital Rupee, a first for Indian retailer

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) first made the e7-R available to retail markets in a few cities on December 1 last year.

Reliance Retail will begin accepting retail payments in Digital Rupee at all outlets across the country, the company announced. The retailer offered the first in-store acceptance of the currency at its Freshpik shop as the initial step, following which the policy will be extended across all stores.

The company has partnered with Innoviti Technologies, ICICI Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank to enable acceptance of CBDC (Digital Rupee). After billing, if the consumer chooses to pay through CBDC, a Digital Rupee acceptance QR code will be presented for payment.

V Subramaniam, managing director at Reliance Retail said, "I believe CBDC will be better than the UPI system. Transactions will be anonymous and protected. Moreover, acceptance across 17,000 Reliance Retail stores will play a role in getting CBDC adopted."

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) first made the e7-R available to retail markets in a few cities on December 1 last year.

The use was first limited to four cities—New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar—but was later extended to nine additional cities. Eight banks, including ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, have been chosen to participate in this pilot project in stages.

Clients of these banks will be able to conduct transactions with e7 using a digital wallet.

Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.