Will India’s e-rupee work? Bankers are not sure yet

Just outside the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Museum – which charts the evolution of money, from barter to electronic transactions – Bachche Lal Sahani is testing the nation’s newest form of currency, the e-rupee.

The 45-year-old fruit vendor is among the first retailers in India to use the central bank digital currency, the Reserve Bank of India, launched as a pilot on December 1, a month after the trial for wholesale, or interbank transactions, was rolled out.

Since then, Sahani has recorded only about 30 purchases with the e-rupee, which is one of several digital payment options he offers besides Google Pay and PayTM. But he is hopeful it will catch on with customers, many of whom still prefer cash.

“This works even without the internet. We do face network issues at times when we use Google Pay and PayTM,” Sahani said as he packed apples and pears, and announced the arrival of sweet grapes to a regular customer who paid cash.

People don’t know about e-rupee yet because it is still in its pilot phase. It will become popular, but it will take time,” Sahani told Context.

A central bank digital currency is the digital form of a country’s fiat, or official, currency that can be used...

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