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Digital rupee
Digital rupee
Digital rupee
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Digital rupee (e₹)

Logo of the digital rupee
Digital banknotes and coins
Digital banknotes and coins
ISO 4217
CodeINR (numeric: 356)
Subunit0.01
Unit
Unitrupee
Symbole₹‎
Denominations
Subunit
 1⁄100paisa
Symbol
 paisa
Banknotes
 Freq. usede₹2, e₹5, e₹10, e₹20, e₹50, e₹100, e₹200, e₹500, e₹2,000
Coins
 Freq. used50e, e₹1
Demographics
Date of introduction
  • e₹-W: 1 November 2022; 3 years ago (1 November 2022) (pilot test)[1]
  • e₹-R: 1 December 2022; 2 years ago (1 December 2022) (pilot test)[2]
User(s) India
Issuance
Central bankReserve Bank of India
 Websitewww.rbi.org.in
Printer
 Website
Valuation
InflationDecrease 5.02% (October 2023)[4]
 SourceRBI – Annual Inflation Report
 MethodConsumer price index (India)[5]
Pegged with Indian rupee (at par)
ValueUSD $1 = e₹83.23
EUR €1 = e₹90.22
INR ₹1 = e₹1.00
CNY ¥1 = e₹11.78
(16 November 2023)

The digital rupee (e₹),[6] eINR, or e-rupee is a tokenised digital version of the Indian rupee, issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a central bank digital currency (CBDC).[7] The digital rupee was proposed in January 2017 and launched on 1 December 2022.[8] It uses blockchain distributed-ledger technology.[9]

Like banknotes it will be uniquely identifiable and regulated by the central bank. Liability lies with RBI. Plans include online and offline accessibility.[10] RBI launched the Digital Rupee for Wholesale (e₹-W) catering to financial institutions for interbank settlements and the Digital Rupee for Retail (e₹-R) for consumer and business transactions.[8] The implementation of the digital rupee aims to remove the security printing cost borne by the general public, businesses, banks, and RBI on physical currency which amounted to ₹49,848,000,000.[clarification needed][11]

History

[edit]

In 2017, a high level inter-ministerial committee (IMC) was formed under the Department of Economic Affairs in Ministry of Finance (MoF) on the governance and usage of virtual currencies in India and recommended a digital form of fiat currency using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The Department of Financial Services of MoF, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were invited to form a special group that will look into legal and technological development of CBDC.[12] Without any official recognition of cryptocurrencies, RBI started planning on future CBDC development.[13]

On 16 December 2020, the RBI announced a regulatory sandbox to test next generation technologies on cross border payments to collect field test data and evidence of benefits and risks on the financial ecosystem.[14] On 29 January 2021, the Indian Government proposed a bill to ban trading and investments in cryptocurrencies while giving legal power to RBI for developing CBDC, termed as "programmable digital rupee" using the experience gained from handling Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) for distribution and validation purpose.[15][16]

As per the Currency and Finance Report of 2021 released by RBI, CBDC backed by the sovereign must promote non-anonymity of monetary transactions and financial inclusion by direct transfers. It must be compliant with national and global money laundering and economic terrorism laws.[17] The RBI initially planned the first stage of CBDC trials for December 2021;[18] however, it was later rescheduled to Q1 2022, with a nationwide rollout planned in phases.[19] As per Governor Shaktikanta Das, RBI is still in discussion whether to go with centralized system or use Distributed Ledger Technology.[20] While the preliminary study will be conducted soon, RBI started internal evaluation on scope, legal framework, calibration, technology, distribution and validation mechanism of CBDC citing increase in digital transaction during the COVID-19 pandemic.[21][22][23]

The Government of India is working on amendments for The Coinage Act, 2011,[24] Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, Information Technology Act, 2000 and Crypto-currency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 that will govern CBDC in the country.[25][26]

The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Health Authority introduced e-RUPI on 2 August 2021 which is a prepaid person specific, purpose specific e-voucher based on QR code or SMS string that doesn't require bank account to make it leak proof. It is going to act as a precursor by highlighting the gaps in national digital payment infrastructure that needs further improvement before the nationwide launch of CBDC.[27][28] At 2022 Union budget of India, Nirmala Sitharaman from the Ministry of Finance announced the roll out of the digital rupee starting from 2023.[29] As per the International Monetary Fund, the digital rupee can help in currency management and cross border payments in view of high volume of inbound remittance.[30][31]

The pilot in wholesale segment, known as the Digital Rupee – Wholesale (e₹-W), was launched on 1 November 2022, with use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. Use of (e₹-W), is expected to make the inter-bank market more efficient. Settlement in central bank money would reduce transaction costs by pre-empting the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or for collateral to mitigate settlement risk. The pilot in retail segment, known as digital Rupee-Retail (e₹-R), was launched on 1 December 2022, within a closed user group (CUG) comprising participating customers and merchants.[8]

Concept stage

[edit]

RBI started the process of designing CBDC framework in 2022.[32] Finance Bill 2022 enacted with amendments in Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 for CBDC. Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) will develop proof of concept and run the pilot project before launch.[33] As per Payments Vision 2025 document released by RBI on 17 June 2022, CBDC will be used for domestic and cross border payment processing and settlement. RBI classified CBDC into retail CBDC that will be designed to complete individual financial needs and wholesale CBDC which will be traded between RBI, Public and Private sector banks for currency distribution purpose and economic stability. RBI is also exploring purpose driven CBDC for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to reduce subsidy leakage and corruption.[34][35] Through the LF Decentralized Trust, the RBI and the MEITy are utilizing Linux Foundation's projects to build the National Blockchain Framework and the digital rupee.[36][37]

For internal pilot project, RBI started consultation with FIS, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.[38] On 5 October 2022, the Fintech Department of RBI released a concept note to create awareness on CBDC and the planned features of the upcoming digital rupee (e₹).[6][39] The structure of the digital rupee will be either token-based or account-based. For a token-based CBDC, it will act closer to physical cash and able to perform retail transactions. Account-based CBDC is for maintaining the balance sheet and is considered for institutional level wholesale transactions. For issuance, RBI is looking at single tier direct model where the central bank keeps control over every aspect of CBDC from account-keeping to transaction verification or a two tier indirect model where RBI issues CBDC to retail banks and financial service providers for wider circulation. RBI is also looking at offline transaction support.[40]

In token-based system, a common public key will be used to initiate the transfer while private key such as user defined password will be used as verification tool to complete the transfer. As per RBI, an e-wallet will be provided for transaction purpose and bank account is not required. While transaction of smaller sums will remain anonymous, larger sums will require self disclosure in compliance with national and global money laundering and economic terrorism laws.[41]

e₹-R will be outside commercial banking system that can help reduce concentration of liquidity and credit risks in payment systems mediated through commercial banks.[42] As per RBI, CBDC will be an additional payment avenue for users and is not meant for replacing existing payment systems. The objective behind CBDC is to support and encourage the growing digital economy, reduce cost of physical cash management, create an efficient monetary payment system and further increase financial inclusion. The digital rupee is convertible to paper currency without change in value and will show in RBI balance sheet to build trust, safety, liquidity, settlement finality and integrity. To mitigate the risk of introducing a new technology in currency circulation, RBI will design the characteristics of the digital rupee closer to paper currency and introduce it in a seamless manner. Official launch may happen after 31 March 2023.[43]

Offline usage

[edit]

RBI is thinking about adding an offline usage capability to the digital rupee to offer availability and resilience in the event of a network outage or programmability issues. Without requiring a check-in with an online ledger, the offline digital payment systems could validate transactions and confirm the existence of funds.[44] To accelerate the implementation, RBI and the NPCI are also focusing on feature phone-based payments in addition to purpose-defined transactions.[45]

The digital rupee's offline capability and programmability have been announced by RBI on 8 February 2024. e₹-R will allow offline transactions in places with spotty or nonexistent internet access. Numerous offline methods, both proximity- and non-proximity-based, will be assessed in mountainous, rural, and urban settings in order to accomplish this goal. Users such as government agencies will be able to guarantee that defined benefit payments are made thanks to programmability. In a similar vein, corporate will have the ability to schedule certain expenses such as staff business trips. It is also possible to program extra characteristics like the validity period or the regions in which CDBC can be utilised.[46]

Pilot project

[edit]

The Digital Rupee for Wholesale (e₹-W) was launched on 1 November 2022.[47] It will be used to settle secondary market transaction in government securities. It will help cut transaction cost and preventing the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or for collateral to mitigate settlement risk. 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 are participating in the pilot project.[48] Shaktikanta Das on 2 November 2022 revealed that the Digital Rupee for Retail (e₹-R) will also start similar trial in the same month.[49] Each participating bank will test e₹-R among 10,000 to 50,000 people. RBI will collaborate with PayNearby and Bankit to integrate CBDC as payment option while National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will manage the backend infrastructure.[50]

RBI will also undertake cross border transactions using the digital rupee during the pilot project.[51] On 1 November 2022, the RBI used the digital rupee to settle Indian government bonds in secondary market transactions worth ₹2.75 billion Indian rupees ($33.29 million).[52] The Phase-1 of pilot project for e₹-R will start from 1 December 2022 in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar under State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank. Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla will be included in Phase-2 under Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.[53] e₹-R will have both P2P and P2M support. A person can pay using QR code.[54] Once e₹-R transferred to individual wallet, small value transactions will not be traced by banks to maintain anonymity.[55]

In November 2022, e₹-W on average did ₹3,250,000,000 worth of deals per day. For the first two days of e₹-R pilot, ₹30,000,000 worth of digital currencies were created by RBI. Unlike physical currency, there is an option for recovery against loss of e₹. In e₹-R pilot phase, RBI is testing specific use cases for P2P and P2M transaction. RBI is also planning to extend use case of e₹ in cross border transaction at institutional and individual level.[56] As per Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, CBDC in itself will not earn any interest but can be converted into bank deposits. He also clarified that e₹-R is using Blockchain technology.[57] As per RBI, the digital rupee has reached 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants as of 8 February 2023.[58] RBI is going to launch pilot project for inter-bank borrowing using digital rupee from October 2023.[59]

In the retail sector usage of the digital rupee, the RBI has achieved its goal of one million daily transactions on 27 December 2023.[60] The administration of Union Bank of India (UBI) plans to transfer numerous employee benefits on CBDC wallet in an effort to promote the wallet, nevertheless, the employee federation advocacy group wants the management to take the employees into confidence first regarding the usage.[61]

In order to assess the durability of the system at scale, the RBI set a goal of one million retail transactions every day for the digital rupee that was met by December 2023. Following the conclusion of system stress tests, the number of daily transactions decreased to 100,000 as of June 2024.[62] Google Pay, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Cred, and MobiKwik are attempting to participate in the digital currency pilot. It is anticipated that they will begin to give digital rupee access in 2024. Prior to April 2024, the RBI had only allowed banks to offer digital rupee through their mobile applications. However, the central bank later announced that payment companies could also offer digital rupee transactions using their platform after receiving RBI approval.[63]

UPI Interoperability

[edit]

As part of the Central Bank Digital Currency pilot project, Canara Bank has released the Unified Payments Interface compatible digital rupee mobile app. Without the need for a separate on-boarding procedure for CBDC for retailers, it will enable users to scan the existing UPI QR code and make payments using digital rupee. Customers in 26 Indian cities who have been whitelisted can access the service as part of a pilot program.[64] On 30 August 2023, Yes Bank unveiled the integration of UPI for digital rupee payment. Customers can send digital rupee using existing UPI virtual payment addresses.[65] Beginning on 4 September 2023, State Bank of India (SBI) started offering UPI compatibility with digital rupee. This integration was made possible by SBI's involvement in the RBI's December 2022 retail digital e-rupee project.[66]

As part of the CBDC pilot project, Bank of Baroda have announced the addition of a UPI interoperability feature to their digital rupee application. Additionally, Kotak Mahindra Bank activated UPI interoperability. Additionally, Axis Bank disclosed that the "Axis Mobile Digital Rupee" CBDC app now supports UPI. To become the first commercial bank to finish the integration process in India, HDFC Bank introduced a UPI QR code that was compatible with the digital rupee.[67]

Cross-border settlement

[edit]

The RBI Internal Working Group is looking for the viability of rapid and low-cost digital cross-border settlements using the CBDC mechanism, with their counterparts in the US, Hong Kong, and SWIFT.[68] According to RBI, cross-border payments may be made using the digital currency issued by the central bank. A shared platform created as part of Project Dunbar, led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), can be used for this.[69]

User-Level Programmability

[edit]

The digital rupee pilot project's programmable feature was expanded by the RBI on 30 August 2024, to include additional use cases in the areas of fuel, groceries, education, dining out, healthcare, and travel.[70]

Market acceptance

[edit]

User acceptance of Digital rupees has remained very low. As of late 2024, Digital Rupee usage was about 0.006% of all total banknotes in circulation - though pilots had been running for nearly two years.[71]

The wholesale segment has fared even worse, with its value dropping to just Rs 0.08 crore in March 2024, down from Rs 10 crore in March 2023.[72]

Reliance Retail in partnership with Innoviti Technologies, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank became the first big organised retail chain in the country to accept e₹-R.[73] CCAvenue became the first payment gateway to process e₹-R for online retail transaction.[74] A cooperation between Indraprastha Gas and IndusInd Bank was launched, with the aim of enabling the usage of digital rupee at specific gas stations within the National Capital Region (NCR) area.[75]

Using programmable digital rupees, IndusInd Bank completed transactions on 22 April 2024, to compensate farmers for carbon credits. Farmers are now able to trade their carbon credits for CBDCs, whereas previously they could only receive fiat money. Fifty farmers from Maharashtra took part in the initiative.[76]

The value of digital rupee increased from ₹100 crore in December 2023 to ₹323.5 crore as of 31 May 2024. 400,000 businesses and 4.6 million customers were registered to use the digital rupee as of April 2024.[77]

On August 29, 2024, HDFC Bank introduced user-level programmability on the digital rupee. It is now supported by the HDFC Bank Digital Rupee Wallet, allowing users to guarantee that payments are paid for specified purpose. Individual users can optionally design other characteristics using this capability, such as the validity period or the geographic regions in which the digital rupee can be utilised.[78]

Criticism

[edit]

Since using digital rupee was essentially the same as internet banking, which customers were already happy with, stakeholders are not seeing any benefits. Another negative aspect of using digital rupees was that each trade had to be completed separately, unlike traditional interbank payment systems where trades were netted off first and then settled in bulk with the clearing house. Furthermore, transactions in digital rupees do not completely replace those conducted through traditional channels. hence making banks' accounting tasks heavier. It leads to increased labor and paperwork.[79]

According to an Indian banker, UPI gained a lot of traction because of its obvious benefits. Given the ease and efficiency of this type of digital transaction, the move would not occur naturally—in fact, the retail sector might respond to digital rupee less favourably than the wholesale segment. The International Monetary Fund claimed that there were too many parallels between instant payment systems and CBDCs to overlook, which could restrict the adoption of the new digital currencies.[79]

Economic implications

[edit]

The introduction of the digital rupee, a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is poised to have significant implications for the Indian economy. The shift to a digital currency is expected to contribute to the digitisation of money, facilitating India's transition towards a cashless economy. This move could enhance resilience in the payment systems and drive innovation, particularly in cross-border payments, which may become faster and more cost-effective.[80]

One of the most immediate economic benefits is the reduction in the costs associated with printing and managing physical currency. It is estimated that India could save approximately ₹40,000,000,000 (equivalent to ₹42 billion or US$500 million in 2023) by reducing the need for physical currency production.[80] The digital rupee also aims to lower transaction costs, making both domestic and international money transfers more efficient and accessible. This could be particularly beneficial for migrant workers who often face high remittance fees.

Moreover, the digital rupee is expected to reduce settlement risks in the financial system, as transactions made through digital wallets backed by blockchain technology will be final and irrevocable. This feature could enhance the stability of the financial sector and promote real-time, low-cost globalisation of payment.[80]

In the long term, the digital rupee may also reduce India's dependency on the US dollar in international trade by providing a robust alternative for cross-border transactions. This could potentially strengthen India's position in the global financial system and support the country's economic sovereignty.[80]

The Pilot banks currently offering CBDC wallets to users

[edit]

Currently, 15 banks are offering CBDC wallets.

Pilot Banks Name of the App
SBI eRupee by SBI
ICICI Bank Digital Rupee by ICICI Bank
IDFC First Bank IDFC First Bank Digital Rupee
YES BANK Yes Bank Digital Rupee
HDFC Bank HDFC Bank Digital Rupee
Union Bank of India Digital Rupee by UBI
Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda Digital Rupee
Kotak Mahindra Bank Digital Rupee by Kotak Bank
Canara Bank Canara Digital Rupee
Axis Bank Axis Mobile Digital Rupee
IndusInd Bank Digital Rupee by IndusInd Bank
PNB PNB Digital Rupee
Federal Bank Federal Bank Digital Rupee
Karnataka Bank Karnataka Bank Digital Rupee
Indian Bank Indian Bank Digital Rupee
IDBI Bank IDBI eRupee
Bank of India Bank of India Digital eRupee

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Digital rupee

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The digital rupee (e₹) is India's , a issued by the as a secure digital token representing the sovereign . It functions as a liability of the RBI, stored in electronic wallets provided by participating banks, and supports , person-to-merchant, and programmable transactions without accruing interest. Available in retail (e₹-R) form for public use in daily payments and wholesale (e₹-W) for interbank settlements, the e₹ aims to enhance transaction efficiency, minimize settlement risks, and promote financial inclusion by complementing rather than replacing physical currency or private digital payments. The RBI launched wholesale pilots on November 1, 2022, involving select financial institutions for secondary market transactions, followed by retail pilots on December 1, 2022, enabling public access via apps from 15 banks. Ongoing pilots as of 2025 test scalability, offline functionality for areas with poor connectivity, and integration with systems like UPI, with recent advancements including the rollout of offline wallet-to-wallet transfers using NFC technology. These efforts prioritize control over issuance and circulation to safeguard , distinguishing e₹ from decentralized cryptocurrencies while addressing logistical costs of cash handling. Despite technological progress, adoption remains constrained by the dominance of efficient alternatives like UPI and requires further evaluation of impacts on banking liquidity and safeguards.

History and Development

Conceptual Origins and Planning

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) began exploring central bank digital currency (CBDC) concepts in earnest during 2020-2021, as detailed in its Report on Currency and Finance for that period, which highlighted potential benefits amid global developments in digital currencies. While influenced by international pilots, such as those by the People's Bank of China and the European Central Bank, RBI's deliberations emphasized India's unique context: the success of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which processed over 74 billion transactions in 2022, alongside persistent high cash usage for low-value payments and in rural areas. This duality underscored the need for a sovereign digital alternative to complement rather than replace existing systems like UPI, focusing on efficiency gains without disrupting financial stability. Primary motivations included substantial cost reductions in physical currency management, as the RBI incurs expenses for printing, distribution, and storage—estimated to save operational costs through digitization, with these burdens ultimately passed to banks and the public via forgone. Additional objectives encompassed bolstering for the population, estimated at around 190 million adults in 2021, by enabling accessible digital payments without requiring bank accounts, and providing a , to mitigate risks from volatile private cryptocurrencies, which RBI viewed as disruptive to without inherent value. These aims aligned with from India's post-2016 demonetization experience, which revealed ongoing reliance on despite digital payment surges. On October 7, 2022, the RBI issued a comprehensive concept note outlining the digital rupee's framework, proposing distinct wholesale and retail variants: wholesale for interbank settlements to enhance liquidity efficiency, and retail for public use akin to cash. Central to the design was affirming the digital rupee's status as , ensuring convertibility at par with physical rupees, and adopting a two-tier distribution model wherein the RBI issues to commercial banks and financial institutions, which then distribute to end-users, thereby preserving banks' intermediation role and averting risks of deposit flight or . This preparatory phase prioritized research into technology-neutral platforms and regulatory safeguards, setting the stage for subsequent pilots without immediate implementation details.

Pilot Launch and Expansion

The initiated the wholesale digital rupee pilot on November 1, 2022, focusing on the settlement of government securities transactions among nine participating banks, including , , and . This phase tested the infrastructure for transactions in dated securities and treasury bills, emphasizing efficiency in settlements without altering existing settlement cycles. The retail digital rupee pilot followed on December 1, 2022, targeting urban users in a closed user group comprising select customers of four banks—, , , and —in four cities: , , Bengaluru, and . Participants used digital wallets for person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions, with incentives like cashbacks to encourage usage and achieve initial testing volumes. In 2023, the RBI expanded the retail pilot to additional banks and cities, incorporating more user segments such as small merchants and integrating with the (UPI) for QR code-based payments. This allowed users to scan existing UPI QR codes at merchant outlets via dedicated digital rupee apps, broadening while evaluating based on pilot feedback. Further iterations in early 2024 added banks and extended geographic coverage, refining token issuance and redemption processes iteratively. By May 2024, e-rupee circulation had reached ₹323 , reflecting growth from earlier phases amid testing, though transaction volumes plateaued relative to broader digital payment systems like UPI. The RBI's phased expansions demonstrated an adaptive strategy, prioritizing data-driven adjustments to operational challenges observed in initial deployments.

Recent Milestones and Offline Capabilities

On October 8, 2025, the (RBI) launched a retail sandbox for its (), the digital rupee (e₹), to facilitate innovation by allowing firms and banks to test applications in a controlled environment. On the same date, the RBI initiated a pilot for deposit tokenisation, employing the wholesale segment of the e₹ as a base layer to tokenize certificates of deposit on ledgers, aiming to streamline settlement processes among financial institutions. These developments coincided with efforts to bolster infrastructure scalability, as the (UPI) continued to dominate retail transaction volumes—recording 12,549 transactions worth ₹1,572 in the half-year ending June 2025—prompting the RBI to advance CBDC features while upholding restrictions on unbacked private cryptocurrencies. A key milestone occurred on October 22, 2025, when the RBI unveiled offline capabilities for the e₹ at the Global Fintech Fest in , enabling wallet-to-wallet payments without or mobile network access through device-to-device technologies such as near-field communication (NFC). This functionality supports instant, secure transactions in low-connectivity areas, mimicking cash usability while maintaining for validation upon reconnection. RBI statements emphasize prioritizing use-case experimentation over rapid mass adoption, citing technical integration hurdles with existing systems like UPI, with pilots indicating sustained circulation growth to over ₹1,000 by early 2025 but no timeline for full-scale rollout amid ongoing evaluations.

Technical Design and Features

Core Architecture and Security

The digital rupee operates on a two-tier distribution model, wherein the (RBI) creates and issues the currency to participating banks or financial institutions, which in turn distribute it to end-users through digital wallets or accounts, thereby preserving the intermediary role of commercial banks while enabling RBI to maintain monetary control and oversight. This indirect issuance mechanism mirrors the physical currency system, where RBI holds liability for the base , but delegates retail handling to banks to leverage existing infrastructure and mitigate direct operational burdens on the . For the wholesale segment, targeting and settlements, the architecture employs distributed technology (DLT) in a permissioned network to facilitate efficient transactions, such as government securities, while ensuring and finality without full public . In contrast, the retail segment adopts a centralized approach, utilizing token-based for user-held digital that emulate physical attributes like transferability, but with RBI-mandated validation to enforce central and prevent systemic risks from decentralized anonymity. This hybrid structure prioritizes RBI oversight in retail operations to align with , including anti-money laundering requirements, over seen in cryptocurrencies. Security is embedded through token-based for retail transactions and account-based for wholesale, incorporating advanced cryptographic protocols to safeguard against counterfeiting and unauthorized access. A dedicated and layer enforces account-based access controls, with all transactions subject to RBI-centralized validation via the to eliminate risks inherent in digital forms. Complementing this, wallets feature a robust cybersecurity framework, including and data protection measures compliant with RBI guidelines, ensuring transaction integrity without compromising the central bank's ability to audit and intervene as needed.

Key Functionalities

The digital rupee, or e₹, functions as legal tender issued directly by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), equivalent in value to physical currency notes and coins, ensuring its acceptance for payments without intermediaries. It supports real-time peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) settlements, enabling instantaneous transfers via digital wallets on participating bank apps, which reduces settlement risks inherent in traditional payment systems. To prevent potential financial stability issues such as bank disintermediation or runs on commercial banks, RBI imposes holding limits on e₹ wallets, typically capped at ₹100,000 per wallet, with daily load/unload limits around ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 and per-transaction caps of ₹10,000, as implemented in pilot programs by banks like State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. Offline transaction capabilities, introduced in pilots during 2025, allow e₹ transfers without internet connectivity, leveraging proximity technologies such as near-field communication (NFC) or Bluetooth for device-to-device exchanges in low-connectivity or remote areas. These features were demonstrated at the Global Fintech Fest in October 2025, restricting offline mode to wallet-to-wallet transfers to maintain security and limit exposure, with transactions settling upon reconnection to verify balances and prevent double-spending. While designed to mimic cash's ease of use, e₹ incorporates built-in traceability for transactions, facilitating compliance with anti- (AML) regulations through auditable records maintained by the RBI, particularly for larger amounts exceeding small-value thresholds where full may apply. This auditability contrasts with physical cash's complete , enabling authorities to monitor flows for illicit activities like or , though RBI balances it by allowing pseudonymity in low-value offline peer transactions to preserve usability.

Programmability and Interoperability

The digital rupee incorporates programmability features that enable conditional transaction rules, akin to smart contracts, allowing restrictions such as expiration dates, merchant-specific limitations, geolocation tagging for subsidies, and purpose-bound usage to ensure funds are directed as intended. These capabilities were tested in pilots for welfare distribution, where programmable facilitate targeted government grants, reducing leakage and in schemes like subsidies for essentials. For instance, funds can be programmed to expire after a set period or be usable only at designated vendors, enhancing efficiency in social welfare payments. User-level programmability was expanded in the retail pilot as of August 2024, incorporating controls for customized transaction conditions, while wholesale pilots explored tokenization of government securities (G-Sec) for settlement using e₹-W, enabling atomic swaps and reducing counterparty risks in secondary markets. This tokenization leverages the digital rupee's structure to represent assets digitally, with pilots demonstrating settlement of G-Sec transactions via CBDC ledgers for faster, transparent processing. Interoperability with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) allows digital rupee users to scan standard merchant QR codes for payments, bridging CBDC wallets with existing UPI infrastructure without separate apps. Banks such as ICICI, , and Kotak Mahindra integrated this feature by late 2023, enabling seamless peer-to-merchant transfers where the liability shifts from RBI-held CBDC to commercial bank balances post-transaction. Cross-border pilots, including a 2025 initiative with the UAE, test CBDC interoperability for remittances and trade settlements, aiming to lower costs and settlement times through linked digital currencies.

Implementation and Use Cases

Participating Institutions

The selected nine scheduled commercial banks to participate in the wholesale digital rupee (e₹-W) pilot launched on November 1, 2022, focusing on interbank settlements and government securities transactions. These institutions, designated as token service providers (TSPs), receive e₹ tokens from the RBI for distribution among financial market participants. Examples include , , , , , and , representing a mix of and entities. For the retail digital rupee (e₹-R) pilot, initiated on December 1, 2022, participation began with four banks—, , , and —chosen to test person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions in select cities. The program expanded progressively to include additional public and banks, reaching 17 institutions by March 2025, thereby increasing geographic coverage and user access. These banks issue e₹ wallets through dedicated mobile applications or integrated banking apps, enabling customers to hold, transfer, and redeem digital tokens backed 1:1 by reserves. App updates are required for users to access enhanced features, such as offline functionality tested in controlled environments. Initially, the pilots excluded non-bank fintech firms and payment aggregators, limiting distribution to RBI-approved banks to ensure regulatory oversight and systemic stability. In October 2025, the RBI introduced a retail CBDC sandbox to address this, allowing fintech companies to prototype and test wallet solutions, APIs, and interoperability features in a simulated environment without direct public exposure. This framework facilitates broader entity involvement, including payment giants like Google Pay and PhonePe, which have expressed interest in integration, while maintaining RBI control over core issuance.

Pilot Operations and Testing

The retail pilot for the digital rupee (e₹-R), launched on December 1, 2022, in a comprising customers and merchants of select banks in four initial cities—Mumbai, , Bengaluru, and —focuses on testing end-to-end processes for digital token creation, distribution, and usage in everyday payments. Participating banks, starting with institutions like , , , and , facilitate user onboarding by enabling customers to download dedicated e₹ mobile apps, complete registration linked to existing accounts, and activate digital wallets pre-loaded with e₹ tokens transferred from bank balances. Transaction flows support person-to-person (P2P) transfers and person-to-merchant (P2M) payments, executed via QR codes or app interfaces, targeting salaried individuals for salary credits and merchants for routine purchases, with pilots later expanding to additional cities such as , , , and Hyderabad to assess scalability. The wholesale pilot (e₹-W), initiated on November 1, 2022, with nine banks, emphasizes interbank settlements, particularly for secondary market transactions in government securities, aiming to achieve atomic T+0 (same-day) finality without intermediaries like the Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIL) by leveraging distributed ledger technology for direct peer-to-peer transfers. Expanded in October 2023 to include call money market operations, it tests smart contract-enabled programmability for automated settlements, reducing settlement risks and counterparty exposures compared to traditional T+1 cycles, with participants conducting simulated and live trades to evaluate throughput and resilience. Performance metrics from the pilots indicate gradual uptake, with retail circulation reaching ₹1,016 by March 2025 across over 60 users and 17 participating banks, reflecting a year-on-year growth from ₹57 million in FY 2022-23 to ₹2.34 billion in FY 2023-24, though transaction volumes remain limited due to controlled scaling and competition from established systems like UPI. Early testing has highlighted operational challenges, including the need for iterative app updates to ensure seamless and user interface intuitiveness, alongside reliance on incentives such as promotional token loads to drive initial P2P/P2M adoption within pilot cohorts, as documented in RBI oversight reports.

Cross-Border and Specialized Applications

The has positioned cross-border payments as a core application for the wholesale digital rupee, aiming to enable instantaneous settlements and reduce reliance on traditional correspondent banking networks. In line with this, the RBI has expanded its cross-border payment linkages to include , , and , with plans to incorporate the , facilitating rupee-denominated trade and remittances that could integrate digital rupee tokens for enhanced efficiency and traceability. Programmability features in the digital rupee allow for embedded compliance rules, such as automated verification of trade documents or conditional releases, which support regulatory adherence in bilateral transactions without intermediaries. In specialized applications, the RBI initiated a pilot in November 2022 for settling transactions in government securities (G-Secs) using the wholesale digital rupee on a (DLT) platform, involving nine participating banks. This tokenization approach issues G-Secs as digital tokens backed by the CBDC, enabling atomic settlement where occurs simultaneously to mitigate counterparty risks. The pilot has demonstrated feasibility for expanding to other assets, including certificates of deposit, with the wholesale CBDC serving as the settlement instrument to ensure finality and reduce operational frictions in capital markets. RBI frameworks further explore the digital rupee's programmability for policy-driven payments, such as direct transfers for subsidies or automated deductions for duties, where smart contract-like conditions enforce end-use restrictions and fiscal compliance. For instance, could be programmed to expire or redirect funds only upon fulfillment of criteria, minimizing leakage and administrative costs associated with manual verification. These capabilities, tested in controlled environments, position the digital rupee for niche roles in , though full-scale deployment awaits standards with international counterparts.

Adoption and Market Dynamics

The digital rupee pilots recorded a peak of approximately 1 million daily transactions in December 2023, facilitated by incentives during expanded testing phases across participating banks. After the conclusion of these incentives and system stress tests, transaction volumes declined to around 100,000 per day by June 2024. Circulation of the e-rupee stood at ₹100 in December 2023, rising to ₹323 by May 2024 amid broader pilot enrollment. This figure further increased to ₹1,016 by the end of March 2025, marking a 334% year-over-year growth from ₹234 in the prior fiscal year. User participation grew to over 5 million individuals and 1 million merchants by 2024, enabled through dedicated wallet applications from pilot banks, though early metrics indicated a concentration in urban areas due to initial rollout focuses. In comparison, the digital rupee's volumes remain niche, with daily transactions in the low hundreds of thousands, contrasted against the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which handles billions of transactions monthly and dominates India's retail digital payments landscape.

Factors Influencing Acceptance

The entrenched success of the (UPI), which processed over 13 billion transactions in September 2024 alone, has reduced the appeal of the digital rupee by offering users a familiar, efficient alternative for instant payments without the need for additional infrastructure. RBI Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar emphasized in October 2025 that there is no rush for mass rollout of the e-rupee, as the focus remains on testing new use cases amid UPI's dominance, with CBDC user base limited to around 7 million despite pilots since December 2022. This competitive landscape underscores how existing digital rails diminish incentives for switching to CBDC for routine domestic transactions. Technical integration challenges with banks and merchants have protracted full implementation, with ongoing pilots revealing hurdles in seamless and offline functionality, projecting delays of 2-3 years for broader deployment beyond controlled environments. RBI feedback from stakeholder consultations highlights the need for enhanced backend synchronization to avoid disrupting established payment flows, as incomplete bank onboarding limits institutional uptake. These barriers are compounded in rural regions, where low and intermittent connectivity impede organic adoption, despite targeted pilots. Temporary incentives like cashback offers in select pilots have spurred short-term participation among urban users, but surveys indicate limited sustained engagement without addressing gaps, such as intuitive app interfaces comparable to handling. User trust hinges on perceived reliability and equivalence to physical , with empirical studies showing that familiarity with token-based wallets positively correlates with intentions, though reluctance persists due to unproven . RBI's cautious approach prioritizes refining these elements through iterative feedback to foster voluntary uptake over mandated shifts.

Economic Impacts

Intended Benefits and Efficiencies

The digital rupee aims to lower the operational costs of managing physical currency, including printing, distribution, and storage, which the (RBI) has identified as a key driver for its issuance. Estimates indicate that the full lifecycle cost for a Rs 100 note ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 17, encompassing production and logistics expenses that could be substantially mitigated through digital issuance. This efficiency stems from eliminating material and handling requirements for paper notes, allowing reallocation of resources toward digital infrastructure. In the wholesale segment, the digital rupee facilitates near-instantaneous settlements, minimizing counterparty risks and liquidity demands compared to traditional systems reliant on deferred clearing. The RBI's design emphasizes finality of transactions akin to cash, reducing settlement lags that persist in interbank transfers. For retail users, programmable features enable efficient peer-to-peer and merchant payments, complementing existing real-time systems like UPI without intermediaries' delays. Financial inclusion benefits arise from accessible digital wallets requiring minimal infrastructure, targeting unbanked segments in remote areas where physical cash dominates due to banking gaps. This aligns with broader digital payment adoption, as evidenced by the RBI's Financial Inclusion Index rising from 43.4 in March 2017 to 60.1 in March 2023, driven by expanded access and usage metrics. The digital rupee's offline capability further supports low-cost transactions in underserved regions, potentially accelerating inclusion without full banking penetration. As a digitally verifiable token, the digital rupee inherently counters physical note , a persistent issue with RBI detecting rising Rs 500 notes—up 37% in 2024-25. Unlike paper currency, its issuance and circulation occur via secure ledgers, enabling real-time authentication and eliminating reproduction risks. Additionally, granular usage data could enhance transmission by providing the RBI with precise insights into money velocity and distribution, improving responsiveness over aggregate physical cash metrics.

Effects on Banking and Monetary Policy

The introduction of the digital rupee, structured as a two-tier wholesale and retail system, aims to mitigate risks of bank by involving in distribution and settlement, thereby preserving their intermediary role in the payment ecosystem. However, theoretical models from the (RBI) indicate that widespread adoption could lead to a 10-15% reduction in banking system deposits, potentially constraining banks' lending capacity and profitability as funds shift to non-interest-bearing CBDC holdings. This risk is tempered by design features such as per-user holding caps—initially set at ₹2 for retail pilots—and the absence of interest on digital rupee tokens, which discourages large-scale substitution for remunerated bank deposits. Pilot operations since December 2022 have shown minimal empirical impact on deposit bases, with digital rupee circulation reaching only ₹1,016 by March 2025 amid sluggish uptake dominated by UPI alternatives, indicating no significant to date. Banks' participation in pilots across 17 institutions has further integrated the CBDC into existing channels, reducing fears of abrupt shifts, though remains a latent concern if adoption accelerates. On , the digital rupee enhances transmission mechanisms by enabling direct RBI control over velocity and enabling programmable features for targeted interventions, such as time-bound stimuli that bypass traditional banking frictions. Programmability, tested in pilots expanded by August 2024, allows for automated policy execution like conditional payouts, potentially improving efficiency in countercyclical measures without relying on balance sheets. In cross-border contexts, pilots could streamline remittances and settlements, reducing transmission lags and costs associated with correspondent banking, thereby supporting RBI's stability objectives. At scale, this could facilitate unconventional tools like negative effective rates on holdings or granular controls, though current low volumes limit such applications.

Criticisms and Risks

Privacy and Surveillance Concerns

The digital rupee's architecture incorporates full auditability, enabling the (RBI) to track all transactions via a central , in stark contrast to the provided by physical . While RBI guidelines suggest small-value retail transactions (CBDC-R) may mimic cash-like pseudonymity for users, larger or wholesale transactions (CBDC-W) require full , and the system's design mandates validated KYC-linked paths during pilots, allowing retrospective monitoring of spending patterns without user consent. This central oversight, as noted by former RBI Deputy Governor , raises concerns, as every digital rupee transaction leaves an immutable trail accessible to the state, potentially enabling granular profiling of economic behavior absent in cash systems. Programmability features inherent to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) like the e₹ amplify surveillance risks by permitting conditional spending rules, such as time-bound expiration, merchant restrictions, or purpose-specific allocations enforceable via smart contracts. Although the RBI's current pilot lacks explicit programmable controls, the platform's token-based structure—distributed through banks but ultimately governed by the central ledger—positions it for future enhancements that could impose government-directed limits on purchases, echoing critiques of CBDCs as tools for paternalistic policy enforcement without opt-out mechanisms. Global analyses warn that such capabilities, even if framed as efficiency measures, facilitate a surveillance state dynamic where the central authority dictates transaction validity, bypassing individual financial autonomy. Skeptics, including the Human Rights Foundation's CBDC Tracker, emphasize that India's e₹ pilot, accessible only via KYC-verified bank apps among 13 participating institutions, consolidates control in the RBI's hands despite distributed access points, enabling comprehensive for monitoring or non-conforming activities. This setup, while justified by RBI for anti-money laundering, contrasts with pseudonymous cryptocurrencies and invites empirical parallels to erosions in other traceable digital systems, where assurances of limited access prove illusory under state pressure. Independent voices, prioritizing causal risks over official optimism, argue that the absence of true in a mandatory heightens vulnerability to , particularly in a context of expanding state digital infrastructure.

Systemic Vulnerabilities and Centralization

The centralized ledger system of the Digital Rupee, overseen by the , creates a vulnerable to cyberattacks, where a breach in core could disrupt nationwide transactions and lead to systemic financial instability. Unlike distributed payment networks, this architecture concentrates data and control, amplifying risks from sophisticated threats targeting RBI servers or integrated wallets, as highlighted in analyses of CBDC implementations. RBI's ongoing pilots, including those expanded in 2025 for programmability and offline features, incorporate cybersecurity testing but do not eliminate inherent exposure to data leakage via user apps or third-party integrations, given the scale of potential compromise in a centralized model. Programmable features in the Digital Rupee, which allow entities to impose conditions like usage restrictions or potential expiration on holdings, heighten systemic risks from policy errors, as a flawed central directive—such as accelerated expirations to stimulate spending—could uniformly erode household savings value across millions of users without decentralized safeguards. Centralization exacerbates this by enabling rapid propagation of such errors through the RBI's control layer, potentially destabilizing monetary incentives and amplifying unintended economic contractions, as seen in theoretical models of programmable CBDCs where transaction rules scale flaws nationwide. Low adoption rates further underscore these vulnerabilities, with Digital Rupee transaction volumes remaining negligible compared to the (UPI), which processed 18.3 billion transactions worth $300 billion in March 2025 alone, rendering substantial RBI investments in infrastructure as sunk costs amid with UPI's proven, decentralized efficiency. This disparity highlights how centralization fails to deliver superior resilience or uptake, exposing the system to underutilization risks while competing platforms mitigate single-point failures through broader distribution.

Broader Societal and Liberty Implications

The introduction of the , as a centrally issued and traceable , raises fundamental concerns regarding financial and the potential for expanded state oversight of individual transactions. Unlike physical , which enables anonymous exchanges, the digital rupee's design mandates identification through KYC-linked wallets, allowing the (RBI) to access transaction data for anti-money laundering purposes, thereby facilitating comprehensive monitoring of economic activities. This traceability, while defended by the RBI as necessary for , contrasts with the pseudonymity offered by decentralized cryptocurrencies, whose has been curtailed through heavy taxation and regulatory discouragement by Indian authorities favoring centralized alternatives like the CBDC. Critics argue that such visibility enables mechanisms for transaction blacklisting or freezing, granting the state tools for selective enforcement that could extend beyond financial crimes to political or social controls, as evidenced in theoretical risks outlined by policy analyses of CBDC architectures. Programmability features embedded in the digital rupee further amplify risks to individual agency by permitting the RBI or government sponsors to impose conditional usage rules on funds, such as expiration dates or restrictions on spending categories. This capability, intended for targeted subsidies or welfare distribution, could evolve into broader social engineering instruments, including negative interest rates that penalize savings or incentives tied to behavioral compliance, thereby subordinating personal financial sovereignty to state-defined priorities. In a context where decentralized alternatives providing user-controlled programmability are marginalized—evidenced by India's regulatory preference for CBDCs over private digital assets—this centralization concentrates power in monetary authorities, potentially eroding the separation between economic liberty and governmental directives. Empirical patterns of subdued adoption underscore public wariness toward these shifts, with digital rupee circulation reaching only ₹1,016 crore by October 2025 despite pilots and promotion, representing a negligible fraction amid the dominance of less intrusive systems like UPI, which processed trillions in value with higher user for familiarity and perceived autonomy. This resistance, reflected in transaction volumes lagging far behind established and UPI usage, signals a causal for mediums that preserve transactional over mandated transitions to surveilled digital forms, cautioning against underestimating societal attachment to privacy-preserving financial norms.

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  104. https://www.ainvest.com/news/india-digital-rupee-game-changer-fintech-crypto-markets-2025-2510/
  105. https://www.okx.com/learn/digital-currency-india-digital-rupee
  106. https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/finance/digital-payments-comprise-99-8-of-total-transactions-volume-in-h1-2025-upi-transactions-rbi/articleshow/124760861.cms
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