Retail DigiRupee finds few takers

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the e-rupee value 2.43 crore for the retail segment and 115.92 crore for the wholesale segment as of January 20, according to data obtained by Mint under a Right to Information (RTI) query. The central bank launched the retail e-rupee on 1 December.

According to industry experts, the retail numbers of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) are few, given that it is used by a small group of people under the RBI’s pilot program. He said that despite its immense potential, more convincing is needed to customers as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) already offers instant payments.

“Getting retail users on this platform is not easy as they are already accustomed to instant payment methods like Unified Payments Interface (UPI). “Yet they have little incentive to try yet another way to gain popularity,” said a bank executive on condition of anonymity.

E-Rupee is a digital token that represents legal tender issued in the same denominations as paper currency and coins. Furthermore, e-Rupee transactions do not require interbank settlement.

To be sure, the RBI’s stated position on CBDC adoption is that it wants to move it slowly. “We have our targets in terms of users, in terms of merchants and everyone else. We will see it gradually,” RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Shankar said at the post-policy press conference on February 8.