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After the massive success of UPI, now India’s Central Bank is making Rupee digital.
What is E-RUPEE?
As it is clear from the name, E-rupee is a digital version of Indian Rupee issued by RBI as Central Bank Digital Currency,
The e-rupee will be issued in the same denominations as currently available banknotes and coins.
How is it being rolled out?
RBI has partnered with 4 banks- SBI, ICICI, Yes Bank and IDFC First bank.
Currently, it’s in pilot mode and available to only selected group people in a few cities.
Unlike UPI, E-rupee will be launched in phases and will slowly be rolled out in different cities across the nation.
Is it Crypto?
No, not at all crypto is an unregulated currency which works on blockchain. Of course it has some components based on blockchain technology but it’s not blockchain and this currency is regulated by the RBI.
One major difference is crypto is unstable, that means its value keeps on fluctuation but e-rupee is stable and its value will stay equal to the physical rupee.
Will It replace physical currency?
No, the government has no plan to replace physical currency with a digital one. Instead this currency is aimed to make digital transaction easier and to reduce the printing cost of physical currency.
Yes it is expected that there will be a decrease in physical currency usage as people will start using digital ones.
How is e-rupee different from UPI?
Unlike UPI where we transfer money from one bank to another , you have to open a wallet in the CBDC app for transaction using e-rupee.
This system is extremely faster than UPI because there’s no settlement process between you and the bank, RBI will know about your spending instead of your bank using E-rupee.
Pros and Cons
This process will make your transactions simpler and faster. Also it will save excess money that is used to print money.
But obviously RBI will directly have your data and before making a transaction to anyone else you have to add money to your wallet which is not necessary using UPI, and as we told earlier , no interest in E-RUPEE.
Conclusion
This e-rupee might bring another revolution in banking like UPI brought earlier. E-rupee is currently in pilot mode and will slowly rolled out to all with approval of people and increase of users.
RBI having all the data might not sound good for privacy, however let’s see E-RUPEE can become the next UPI or not.
