RBI Digital Rupee Pilot Launch On December 1: What You Need To Know

RBI Digital Rupee Launch News: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to launch the first pilot for its retail digital Rupee on December 1, 2022. India’s digital Rupee (e₹) initiative is aimed at specific use cases. In case of this pilot, the country’s authorities will be testing settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. While the Indian government faced criticism for imposing high taxes on retail crypto trade, the usage of e-Rupee is seen as a welcome move in the community. The latest initiative is aimed at making inter-bank market more efficient.

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Indian Cities Under Digital Rupee Pilot

The country’s central bank is rolling out the pilot project in select locations in closed user group comprising participating customers and merchants. Initially, four cities in various corners of the country would be covered, the RBI said in a statement on Tuesday. The Digital Rupee project will be gradually expanded to more locations and cities. Depending on the outcome of this project, the RBI looks to expand or use cases like other wholesale transactions and cross border payments.

“The pilot would initially cover four cities, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar and later extend to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla. The scope of pilot may be expanded gradually to include more banks, users and locations as needed.”

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Strict Crypto Taxation

The Indian government imposed a 30% percent tax on profits gained in cryptocurrencies. Also, losses incurred from trading one type of cryptocurrency cannot be offset by profits in another asset. In addition to this, there is a 1% TDS applicable to the transfer of cryptocurrencies.

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