A game changer?

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)’s first pilot for the retail digital rupee kicked office. SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara said it is a game changer with durable effects that should ensure better monetary transmission at much lesser costs. The pilot project for retail digital rupee, RBI’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) started in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar on Thursday and State Bank of India (SBI) is one of the participating banks.In the second phase of retail digital rupee project, nine more cities and four more banks will be included. The e-Rupee is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender and would offer “features of physical cash like trust, safety and settlement finality”, according to the RBI.The use of digital rupee is also expected to reduce the operational costs related to management of physical currency as well as increase financial inclusion in the economy