Corporates will be able to program specified expenditures like business travel for their employees; Validity period or geographical areas can be programmed
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, February 8, 2024: The Central Bank Digital Currency CBDC Retail (CBDC-R) pilot currently enables Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions using Digital Rupee wallets provided by pilot banks. It is now proposed to enable additional use cases using programmability and offline functionality, as per a statement of Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, on February 8, 2024 after the MPC meet.
Shaktikanta Das explained: “Programmability will permit users like, for instance, government agencies to ensure that payments are made for defined benefits. Similarly, corporates will be able to program specified expenditures like business travel for their employees. Additional features like validity period or geographical areas within which CDBC may be used can also be programmed. Second, it is proposed to introduce an offline functionality in CBDC-R for enabling transactions in areas with poor or limited internet connectivity. Multiple offline solutions (proximity and non-proximity based) across hilly areas, rural and urban locations will be tested for this purpose. These functionalities will be introduced through the pilots in a gradual manner.”
