RBI plans to make CBDC QR code interperable with UPI

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank is planning to make the central bank digital currency (CBDC) QR codes interoperable with popular Unified Payment Interface (UPI), Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Thursday.

The central bank is also planning to have 1 million customers active on CBDC or e-rupee by the end of this month, he told reporters.

"And the second thing being planned is to make the CBDC QR (quick response) code interoperable with UPI," Sankar said.

Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the e-rupee as a pilot project, joining a select list of countries which are live with a CBDC. It started a wholesale CBDC first, which was followed with a retail CBDC in December.

The UPI platform is very popular and has witnessed a steady rise in its usage, with the QR code scans at merchants or between peers being of the most used feature.

Sankar said the RBI does not have a date in mind on when to go live with CBDC beyond the present pilot project, and pointed to the "gradual and calibrated" change which focuses on internalising learnings as the usage grows.