The central bank said it will introduce new use cases and features for the digital rupee, building on the groundwork laid by the pilots already underway.
In a bid to modernise India’s financial infrastructure, the RBI is also eyeing enhancements to the account aggregator framework. The improvements aim to increase transparency and strengthen customer service, as part of broader efforts to make financial data sharing safer and more efficient.
Additionally, the RBI is exploring CBDC pilots for cross-border payments on both bilateral and multilateral bases, signalling a push towards using the digital rupee for international settlements.
The RBI launched the first pilots for e₹-Wholesale in November 2022 and for e₹-Retail in December 2022, with select banks participating in controlled environments.
Earlier this year, Mobikwik launched its full-scale CBDC wallet, e-rupee (e₹), in collaboration with the RBI and Yes Bank.
It is available to all Android users, enabling peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. Users can pay by scanning any UPI QR code using e₹, as the wallet is fully compatible with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
CRED also launched a beta programme of the e₹ wallet in January, developed in collaboration with the RBI and YES BANK as the sponsor bank.
First Published: May 29, 2025 11:45 AM IST