RBI Annual Report: Ongoing CBDC pilots to be expanded to more locations, banks

The apex bank aims to expanded the pilot for wholesale as well as retail CBDC to more locations and to include more participating banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) aims to expand the pilot for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, according to the central bank's annual report released on May 30.

"During 2023-24, the Reserve Bank of India aims at expanding the ongoing pilots in CBDC-Retail and CBDC-Wholesale by incorporating various use cases and features," the report said.

Also read: What is a closed user group in CBDC pilot?

The apex bank aims to expand the pilot for wholesale as well as retail CBDC to more locations and to include more participating banks, the report said.

What is the digital rupee pilot?

The central bank on October 31, 2022 launched the first pilot of digital rupee in the wholesale segment and identified nine banks to participate.

The nine lenders include 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

Also read: CBDC retail pilot: Some customers complain of technical glitches in apps, transactions

A month later, RBI, on December 1, 2022, kick-started the pilot for the retail version of the CBDC, or digital rupee.

The retail digital rupee, or e₹-R, can be used by people for day-to-day transactions.

Eight banks are participating in the retail pilot project, including State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, BOB, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Under the pilot project, banks can invite selective customers and merchants to try the services through their mobile applications. After this, these users can make peer-to-peer transactions and peer-to-merchant transactions.

Also read: RBI Digital Rupee Pilot: How Retail CBDC is different from UPI | Explained

Users can deposit a certain amount in the digital wallet of the digital rupee mobile application. The digital wallet works in the same way as a normal wallet. The next step for the user to make payments is to scan the QR code of the receiver and enter the amount that is to be transferred. After this, the receiver’s digital wallet will show the amount credited whereas the sender’s wallet will have the amount debited.