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India to Test Digital Rupee in 4 Cities With 4 Banks
The test, which will start on Thursday, will be extended to include another nine cities and four more lenders in a later phase.
The Reserve Bank of India will start testing its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar with the initial participation of four banks, including the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank, the central bank announced Tuesday.
Later, the pilot program will extend to nine more cities and another four institutions will join, the RBI said.
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The testing will be conducted with a select group of customers and merchants, and the CBDC will be issued in the same denominations now used for notes and coins. Payments to merchants will be made using QR codes, and, like cash, the digital rupee won't earn any interest.
The decision to start the pilot Dec. 1 was announced in October. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had revealed plans to issue a digital rupee in the financial year ending in 2023 during her budget speech in February. India's fiscal year ends on Feb. 28.
The RBI has said that private cryptocurrencies should be banned in India.
Read More: India's Central Bank to Start Wholesale CBDC Pilot Nov. 1
Amitoj Singh
Amitoj Singh is a CoinDesk reporter focusing on regulation and the politics shaping the future of finance. He also presents shows for CoinDesk TV on occasion. He has previously contributed to various news organizations such as CNN, Al Jazeera, Business Insider and SBS Australia. Previously, he was Principal Anchor and News Editor at NDTV (New Delhi Television Ltd.), the go-to news network for Indians globally. Amitoj owns a marginal amount of Bitcoin and Ether below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.
