India will roll out the eRupee to selected banks

RBI in tandem with the central government had launched the wholesale pilot plan on November 1, 2022 and now they are ready to launch the retail e Rupee to selected 4 banks. According to the Reserve Bank of India, the e Rupee is a digital version of the physical notes or coins and will not offer any interest. The e Rupee will offer pivotal features like trust, safety, and settlement finality. The e Rupee can be deposited to banks, according to a statement made by the authorities.

Initially, the digital rupee could only be accessed through wallets created by four banks: State Bank of India, ICICI bank, Yes bank, and IDFC First bank. It is limited to four cities: Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Bhubaneswar. Later, the e Rupee will be extended to cities like Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla. Users will be able to transact with e₹ through a digital wallet that will be offered by the bank (the four banks selected as of now)  The e₹ transactions can be both Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M). Payments to merchants can be made using the QR codes displayed at merchant stores or locations.