E-rupee or Digital rupee – Launched on 1st December 2022 by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in major four Indian cities including New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
You can now use digital wallets offered by partnering bank for exchanging digital rupees. Digital wallets can be kept on mobile or other devices for easy online transactions.
RBI has organised phase wise digital rupee pilot program in which eight banks can take part across the country.
In the first phase of pilot program, Yes Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and IDFC First Bank are the four banks joined in the chosen four cities.
In the second phase of pilot program, HDFC Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the banks that will the pilot program after being notified by the central bank.
Let’s discuss about benefits of digital rupee and acknowledge other information!
Benefits of E-rupee or digital rupee
E-rupee is different from crypto currency in all aspects. Here are some key benefits of digital rupee:
- Digital money can be easily converted into cash or commercial bank money.
- E-rupee cannot be destroyed by burning, tearing apart or any other physical damage.
- No other digital form of money could replace digital rupee.
- E-rupee is a flexible legal tender which means you can utilize it even though you do not hold a bank account.
- Digital money is equal to paper currency. Therefore, it would last as long as paper money last.
- It is governed by central authority which indicates digital money has low risk of being volatile and thereby, offers security to user.
- Digital rupee allows faster mode of payment than any other currency.
- Transactions through digital rupee can be done 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
- Digital rupee does not contain any manufacturing facilities like physical currencies.
How to use E-rupee in India?
Let’s have a look at some ways to use e-rupee in India before making any transactions with digital rupee pilot!
Here are ways:
- The e-pilot covers chosen locations in CUG. CUG means closed user group that contains participating consumers and merchants.
- The e-rupee is considered a digital token of the existing money that would be distributed via banks as an intermediary.
- E-rupee comes with all key features of physical cash such as trust, safety, settlement facility and many more.
- There is a chance to opt for person-to-merchant (P2M) and person-to-person (P2P) transactions by using QR codes displayed at malls.
- A digital wallet will be offered by bank that can be used on laptops or smart phones for online transactions of e-rupee.
- A real-time assessment of the retail use of e-rupees and distribution will be conducted in e-rupee pilot. The assessment aid RBI in evaluating diverse uses and aspects of digital token.
- Digital rupee can be converted into other forms of money such as bank deposits.
Where to buy digital rupee?
RBI has licensed four banks for the pilot program. You can buy digital rupee from those licensed four banks such as Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.
How to transact using e-rupee?
The users are informed by the banks to participate in the retail e-rupee pilot program via email and SMS.
However, you can utilise e-rupee for sending money to another merchant. Payments of merchant can be facilitated via QR codes at merchant locations.
For transacting through e-rupee, it is required to register for using e-rupee wallet. Moreover, e-rupee wallet will be like a physical wallet but in digital form on smart phone. After registration, the person is required to load money into the e-rupee wallet. The entire process of loading money into the wallet is instant as well as easy. You can load money into the wallet through two options such as from different UPI apps and from account connected to the bank.
Moreover, e-rupee wallet contains currency in the form of tokens which is backed by block chain technology.
“Internet connection is required to use e-rupee and do the transaction.”
Reason behind the need for e-rupee
The most significant reason for launching e-rupee by RBI is to deliver safe digital experience to people during monetary transactions and push India forward in the race of virtual currency.
Other reasons are:
- No risk of volatility
- Low costs of transaction
- 24/7 availability of payment system
- Rapid cross-border transactions
- Real-time account settlements
- Raise efficiency and transparency using block chain technology
- Enable real-time tracking and ledger maintenance
- No need of opening bank account
First retailer to accept payments via e-rupee
Reliance Retail is the first retailer to accept payments via e-rupee at stores. Reliance retail has formed partnerships with Innoviti Technologies and Banks to issue e-rupee at its stores.
Customers could scan the QR code on the e-rupee wallet or app and enter the pass code to authorise payment through e-rupee. The reason behind introducing QR-based in-store UPI payments by accepting e-rupee is to offer a convenient as well as seamless payment experience for consumers.
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FAQs
- What is e-rupee?
- E-rupee is an electronic form of paper money. It permits users to buy and spend money electronically by scanning QR codes.
- Do I need internet for using e-rupee?
- Yes, you need internet connection to do transaction using e-rupee.
- How many e-rupee wallets can I keep?
- You can maintain only 1 e-rupee wallet connected to the registered mobile number with your bank.
- Can I shop using e-rupee?
- Yes, you can shop using e-rupee from a store or mall with QR code that accepts digital currency.
- Can I transfer digital money to family and friends?
- Yes, you can transfer digital money to friends and family by using digital wallet.
- How many types of e-rupee launched in India?
- There are two types of e-rupee launched in India, namely, wholesale and retail.
