E-rupee worth over Rs 130 cr in circulation: Sitharaman

New Delhi: Digital or e-rupee worth over Rs 130 crore is in circulation on a pilot basis as on February 28, said the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had launched pilots in digital rupee in the wholesale segment on November 1, 2022 and in the retail segment on December 1, 2022.

"Nine banks namely, 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, have been participating in the digital rupee wholesale pilot," Sitharaman said.

Users can transact with e?-R through digital wallet offered by banks

"As on February 28, the total digital rupee including, Retail (e?-R) and digital rupee wholesale (e?-W) in circulation is Rs 4.14 crore and Rs 126.27 crore, respectively," Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The e?-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. It is being issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued. It is being distributed through financial intermediaries, i.e., banks. Users can transact with e?-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones/devices.

Institutional merchants & vendors on-boarded to transact in e-rupee

The e? pilot for retail segment was launched on December 1, 2022 in five select locations in closed user group for making Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions. "The on-boarded merchants comprise various segments like tea vendors, fruit sellers, street side and sidewalk vendors (including migrant fruit vendors selling on the pavement opposite the RBI's headquarters, Mumbai), small shopkeepers etc," Sitharaman said.

Further, institutional merchants like retail chains and petrol pumps have also been on-boarded to enable transactions in digital rupee across various outlets.

Total digital rupee circulation in select locations amounts to Rs 4.14 cr

Few online merchants have also been enabled to accept digital rupee for the convenience of users. In the approximately three months of the pilot, the total digital rupee including, Retail (e?-R) in circulation in the select locations is Rs 4.14 crore, the minister said.

"Various use cases, technological architecture and design features are being tested during the pilot. Further steps, including expansion of use case, have to be through a phased implementation strategy on the basis of feedback received during the pilots," Sitharaman added.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)