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India tests offline and programmable CBDC

India tests offline and programmable CBDC

India is moving ahead with the next stage of its digital rupee pilot, adding programmability and offline payment capability.

India has been testing a retail CBDC since early last year, enabling person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions, recently hitting the million transactions a day milestone.

The Reserve Bank of India is now set to add programmability, enabling transactions for specific and targeted purposes.

At a press conference, RBI officials offered the example of a business programming specific expenditure such as business travel for employees.

Questioned about the impact on fungibility, deputy governor T Rabi Sankar used another example: a school awards a student money to buy books at a store. The money is not fungible for a period but becomes fungible again once received by the store.

The RBI is also set to test offline functionality, a key consideration to ensure that the eRupee works in areas with poor or limited internet connectivity. Several pilots will test different options in locations such as mountainous areas.
 

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