The Reserve Bank of India expands the digital rupee pilot, introducing Programmability and offline payment features.

On May 29, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (RBI) announced in its 2024-25 annual report that it will expand the scope of the digital rupee (CBDC) pilot, according to Cointelegraph, Introducing new features such as programmability and offline payments for the retail (e₹-Retail) and wholesale (e₹-Wholesale) versions. These features are designed to improve the applicability of the digital rupee in areas with limited network connectivity and tailor payment solutions for specific scenarios such as government subsidies or corporate spending controls.

Currently, the e₹-Retail pilot has covered 600,000 users across 17 banks, and the RBI has also allowed “specific non-banking institutions to provide CBDC wallets” to further expand adoption. The e₹-Wholesale pilot has also attracted more institutions to participate, including four new independent primary dealers.

During the same period, India’s digital payment transaction volume grew by 34.8%, and transaction value increased by 17.9%. The unified payment interface (UPI) has positioned India as a leader in the global real-time payment sector, handling 48.5% of the global real-time payment transaction volume. The RBI has also launched innovative features such as “delegated payments” to further expand digital payment coverage across all strata of society.