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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reportedly going to pilot its CBDC in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. Previously, the central bank governor had said a pilot could be launched by December 2021 but there has been no official timeline committed to by the RBI.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reportedly planning to introduce new features to popularize the e-rupee retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), with transaction volumes running  way short of the RBI's end-2023 target (18,000/day versus a one million/day. The features include allowing digital rupee transactions when a customer is offline and linking the e-rupee to India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI). In fact, many banks have already gone live with QR code-based e-rupee UPI interoperability, so at least this doesn't seem to be new news. Also, HDFC Bank is reportedly working with IDEMIA to build an offline e-rupee platform for feature phones.

State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank are reportedly among a shortlist of at least five lenders that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has chosen to work on its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot that is expected to go live soon.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly started using its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the call money markets for interbank lending. In November 2022, the RBI launched its first wholesale CBDC pilot to settle government bond transactions, but it fizzled out soon after. There's more hope for this new one because the blockchain-enabled instant atomic settlement and programmability means that if one bank lends to another, funds will automatically be returned at specific times without delays. Additionally, there's the potential to tokenize the collateral used for loans. However, none of this has been officially confirmed.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reportedly in discussions with the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Swift regarding the potential to use a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for cross border payments. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said the central bank is "even more convinced that CBDC can be the most effective and efficient mode for cross border payments."

Crunchfish in partnership with HDFC Bank and another Indian bank are piloting offline payments in a project monitored by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in their Regulatory Sandbox program. First phase of the pilot started during Christmas 2022, with a small-scale test during Christmas 2022. The pilot is scheduled to run for a period of four months, followed by a one-month evaluation by RBI.

The Reserve Bank of India has denied having any knowledge or involvement in a draft government bill that would ban cryptocurrencies.

Facebook has said that current regulatory restrictions mean it won't be launching its digital wallet service and cryptocurrency in India. The RBI has effectively banned banks from providing services to crypto-related firms.

Major global banking group HSBC has implemented tokenization technology into its receivables infrastructure for corporate clients in India.

WhatsApp will launch an in-app payment service later this year, with the service to initially be rolled out in India. A pilot trial of the payments service that is conducted on UPI standards is already underway.

A three-judge bench of the court ruled on Wednesday in favor of petitions by crypto exchanges and startups that opposed the decision made by the Reserve Bank of India in April 2018, which banned domestic financial institutions from providing banking services to crypto exchanges.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering a "phased introduction" of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) including running pilot programs. CBDCs are desirable not just for the benefits they create in payments systems, but also might be necessary to protect the general public in an environment of volatile private virtual currencies. Hence, the RBI is currently working towards a phased implementation strategy and examining use cases which could be implemented with little or no disruption, including both retail and wholesale CBDC. Hence, it would appear that the RBI is still in the very early stages of it CBDC deliberations, even though it has been exploring the pros and cons of introducing CBDCs for quite some time. https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=1111

India reportedly plans to introduce a new law banning trade in cryptocurrencies, placing it out of step with other Asian economies which have chosen to regulate the fledgling market. The bill is expected to be discussed shortly by the federal cabinet before it is sent to parliament. The Indian central bank had in 2018 banned crypto transactions after a string of frauds in the months following Prime Minister Narendra Mod's sudden decision to ban 80% of the nation's currency. Cryptocurrency exchanges responded with a lawsuit in the Supreme Court in September and won respite in March 2020.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced measures targeted to boost digital payments, enhance the scope of priority sector lending, and drive innovation in the broader financial ecosystem. The central bank will soon roll out several of these projects targeted primarily to overcome the impediments faced by a large part of the country in accessing financial services due to digital and technology disparity seen across districts. For example, In order to further promote and facilitate an environment that can accelerate innovation across the financial sector, Reserve Bank will set up an Innovation Hub in India. A scheme of retail payments in offline mode using cards and mobile devices, and a system of on online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism for digital payments will also be introduced. https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=50174

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) have agreed to a framework to promote use of Indian rupee (INR) and UAE Dirham (AED) usage for cross-border transactions, and work towards interlinking their fast payment systems (FPSs), to cut transaction costs by eliminating dollar conversions. More specifically, they will link India's unified payments interface (UPI) with the UAE instant payment platform (IPP), and also link their respective card switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH).

Unified Payment Interface (#UPI) is the fastest growing payment system in the world. National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI) created a masterpiece - UPI, an interface via which you can transfer money between bank accounts across a single window. It's a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile app. This means you can send or receive money or scan a #QRcode to pay an individual, a merchant or a service provider to shop, pay bills or authorize payments.

The Reserve Bank of India [RBI] will launch a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) on November 1. The use case for the wholesale Digital Rupee is the "settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities" because it would reduce transaction costs. Nine prominent banks have been identified for participation in the pilot. A pilot of the retail version is planned for launch within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants. https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=54616

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) have launched the fourth edition of the G20 TechSprint, a global technology competition to promote innovative solutions aimed at improving cross-border payments. Developers from around the world should submit application from May 04, 2023 to June 04, 2023 and the TechSprint will conclude around August/ September 2023. The 2023 TechSprint will focus on AML/CFT/Sanctions technology solutions to reduce illicit finance risk, FX and liquidity technology solutions to enable settlement in emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) currencies, and technology solutions for multilateral cross-border CBDC platforms.

Crunchfish in partnership with HDFC Bank and IDFC First Bank completed a joint project in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Regulatory Sandbox to demonstrate and pilot offline retail payments. The Crunchfish platform is implemented as a trusted application that uses certified virtual secure element as well as public key infrastructure (PKI), aiming to boost adoption of digital payments in areas of no or low network by enabling transactions without the need to have a network connection. According to an RBI statement on December 11, 2023, "the solution now may be considered for adoption by regulated entities subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements". https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=56911

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the HaRBInger 2023 hackathon that includes retail CBDC use cases. These include the disbursal of social benefits, and offline usage where the wallets must be able to independently verify the authenticity of transactions without communicating with the server during the transactions, while mitigating the risk of double spending. Registration runs from February 22, with proposals due by March 24. The first prize is Rupees 4 million ($48,000), with winners to be announced mid-August. https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=55218