Anand Mahindra learns of e-rupee from RBI meeting, uses it to buy fruit. Watch

Anand Mahindra Said the fruit vendor was among the first ones to accept digital currency e-rupee. (Screenshot from video shared by Anand Mahindra on Twitter)

Anand Mahindra on Wednesday said that he came to know about India's digital currency e-rupee during a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board meeting and immediately set about using it to buy fruit from a vendor.

Sharing a video of the transaction, the industrialist tweeted, "At the Reserve Bank’s board meeting today I learned about the RBI digital currency-the e-rupee. Right after the meeting, I visited Bachche Lal Sahani, a nearby fruit vendor who is one of the first merchants to accept it. Digital India in action! (Got great pomegranates as well!)"

At the Reserve Bank’s board meeting today I learned about the @RBI digital currency-the e-rupee. Right after the meeting I visited Bachche Lal Sahani, a nearby fruit vendor who is one of the first merchants to accept it. #DigitalIndia in action! (Got great pomegranates as well!) pic.twitter.com/OxFRWgI0ZJ

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— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) January 25, 2023

In the video, Anand Mahindra (not visible on camera) scans the e-rupee QR code from the fruit vendor before making the payment and then shows him the completed transaction. The process was similar to how UPI payments are made by scanning QR codes.

Read more: How to make an e-rupee transaction

The central bank digital currency (CBDC) was started on the wholesale front between a limited set of banks earlier this month. The RBI will follow up on the wholesale e-rupee pilot this month itself, governor Shaktikanta Das had said.

The broader wish of the RBI is to execute a full-fledged launch of the CBDC "in the near future," Das said, choosing not to share a timeline for the same. There will be some technological challenges, some process challenges, and the RBI will want to iron out all those aspects and introduce the CBDC in a manner that is non-disruptive, he had said.

Read more: India uses e-rupee to settle 2.75 billion rupees of government bonds