February 20, 2026 11:47 pm (IST)
Follow us:
Digital Rupee
RBI begins digital rupee pilot in four cities
Mumbai/IBNS: Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot kicked off on Thursday (Dec. 1), a month after India's central bank launched the wholesale version for the same.
Initially, RBI will start the process with four banks- ICICI Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, and IDFC Bank.
In the second phase, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will also join in.
The pilot will take place in select locations within a Closed User Group (CUG), as per an official press release.
Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, and Bengaluru have been selected as the pilot cities, while Gangtok, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore and Kochi among others are next in line.
Digital Rupee
The e-rupee will be a legal tender in the form of a digital token.
Issued denominations will be the same as the physical notes and coins in circulation.
People will be allowed tokeep digital rupee in the e-wallet given by participating banks.
The e-currency will be in use for Person-to-Person (P2P) and Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions, as per media reports.
Payments to merchants can be made using QR codes displayed at merchant locations.
Points of difference with UPI
Unlike UPI, users will need to create a separate CBDC account linked with RBI's server, Moneycontrol reported.
Plus, the users will have to back up their CBDC account with a savings account, as per an IndiaToday report.
The transactions will take place on the Indian central bank's blockchain and not on bank servers such as UPI, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) or National Electronics Funds Transfer (NEFT) transactions, according to a Moneycontrol report.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Big boost for India! PM Modi announces major India–France aviation skills hub in Kanpur
Fri, Feb 20 2026
Which International ETF Belongs in Your Portfolio?
Thu, Feb 19 2026
No more tax payment hassles! Bandhan Bank unlocks instant challan and 24×7 payment access in Assam
Thu, Feb 19 2026
Tata Group joins hands with OpenAI in massive AI push to transform India and global industries
Thu, Feb 19 2026
Affordable and aggressive! Nissan launches Gravite at Rs. 5.65 Lakh
Wed, Feb 18 2026