RBI working towards ‘phased introduction’ of digital rupee

The Reserve Bank of India is working toward a “phased implementation strategy” of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), RBI deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said on Thursday. A pilot to test a general-purpose digital currency is a possibility in the near future, he said.

“Every idea has to wait for its time. Perhaps the time for CBDC is nigh,” Sankar said. “It would be RBI’s endeavour, as we move forward in the direction of India’s CBDC, to take the necessary steps which would reiterate the leadership position of India in payment systems.”

The central bank is framing several considerations on the scope and legal framework of the proposed CBDC that will likely coexist with cash and digital forms of payments, Sankar said in a virtual keynote address at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.