The digital rupee, a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) created by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has reached its projected target of one million daily transactions by December 2023, according to anonymous sources. This achievement was possible due to several Indian banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IDBI Bank, utilizing the digital rupee for disbursing employee benefits.
The e-rupee, as the digital rupee is also known, was introduced as a digital alternative to physical cash, built using distributed-ledger technology. The digital currency was linked to the popular United Payments Interface (UPI) network, facilitating peer-to-peer transfers through mobile apps.
At the end of December 2022, the digital rupee had gained a user base of approximately four million users, up from three million. In the global context, countries such as China, France, and Ghana are also pilot-testing their own versions of CBDC projects. The Reserve Bank of India is encouraging non-financial firms to join in the adoption of the digital rupee to boost transactions further.
