Central Bank of India may start testing digital rupee in early 2022

Sri Vasudevan, head of payments and settlements of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said that the central bank has planned a pilot launch of its own digital currency in the first quarter of next year.

It is reported by the local edition of The Times of India. According to Shri P. Vasudevan, the Central Bank of India is studying in which market segments the digital rupee can be used, whether it will be used by organizations or individuals, as well as the mechanisms for its safe operation. RBI is investigating whether the government stablecoin can avoid the use of intermediaries in making payments in order to simplify and speed up transactions.

RBI pays special attention to the question of what the digital rupee should be: decentralized or semi-centralized. Vasudevan suggested that testing of the digital currency of the Indian central bank could begin as early as the first quarter of 2022, but the official timing of its launch has not been announced. The Bank of India is concerned that private cryptocurrencies pose great risks to both the Indian economy and global financial stability.

“We are studying the various nuances associated with the digital rupee. This is not to say that people will begin to confidently and easily use it from tomorrow. It all depends on how firmly the digital rupee is embedded in the payments industry, so there is no need to rush to launch it, ”Vasudevan said.

Earlier, former Indian Economy Minister Subhash Chandra Garg said that if central banks launch their own digital currencies, people will no longer be interested in stablecoins and conventional cryptocurrencies.