Mumbai, Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said permanent removal of transactions could make the e-rupee or central bank digital currency (CBDC) anonymous and at par with paper currency.
Speaking at the BIS Innovation Summit, Das said India is also working on making the CBDC transferable in offline mode along with introducing a programmability feature to help its financial inclusion goals.
It can be noted that since the introduction of the CBDC in late 2022, there have been concerns about the privacy aspect, with some saying that the electronic nature will leave a trace of where all the currency has been used, according to CAS. The opposite which provides anonymity.
"Anonymity can be addressed through law and/or technology. For example, by permanently deleting transactions," Das said.,
“The basic principle is that CBDCs can have the same degree of anonymity as cash, no more and no less,” he said.
In the past, RBI officials including Das and his deputy T Rabi Shankar have said that technology provides a solution to such concerns over privacy.
Ahead of the launch of the pilot, former RBI Governor D Subbarao had raised the issue of data privacy in 2021 and said that a CBDC would allow the government or the RBI to access all the data about each unit of currency. Used and also asked to make a strong data protection law to deal with it.
Meanwhile, Das reiterated that India is working on making the CBDC transferable even in offline mode, pointing out that one of the key features of the cash is that it does not require network connectivity to work.In February this year, Das announced offline and programmability features in the CBDC.
Das had then said, "Programmability will facilitate transactions for specific/targeted purposes while offline functionality will enable these transactions in areas with poor or limited internet connectivity."
Speaking on Monday, Das said that despite the efforts being made by the Reserve Bank, the RBI still prefers UPI (Unified Payment Interface) among retail users.
"We certainly hope that changes going forward," he said. He informed that RBI has also enabled interoperability of CBDC with UPI.India has made the CBDC non-profitable by making it non-profitable to reduce any potential risk of bank intermediation, Das said, adding that the central bank creates the CBDC and banks distribute it.
He said that to widen the reach of e-Rupee, the RBI has recently announced the participation of non-banks in the pilot project, with the hope that their access will expand to provide distribution and value added services of the CBDC. May be useful.
Speaking at the BIS Innovation Summit, Das said India is also working on making the CBDC transferable in offline mode along with introducing a programmability feature to help its financial inclusion goals.
It can be noted that since the introduction of the CBDC in late 2022, there have been concerns about the privacy aspect, with some saying that the electronic nature will leave a trace of where all the currency has been used, according to CAS. The opposite which provides anonymity.
"Anonymity can be addressed through law and/or technology. For example, by permanently deleting transactions," Das said.,
“The basic principle is that CBDCs can have the same degree of anonymity as cash, no more and no less,” he said.
In the past, RBI officials including Das and his deputy T Rabi Shankar have said that technology provides a solution to such concerns over privacy.
Ahead of the launch of the pilot, former RBI Governor D Subbarao had raised the issue of data privacy in 2021 and said that a CBDC would allow the government or the RBI to access all the data about each unit of currency. Used and also asked to make a strong data protection law to deal with it.
Meanwhile, Das reiterated that India is working on making the CBDC transferable even in offline mode, pointing out that one of the key features of the cash is that it does not require network connectivity to work.In February this year, Das announced offline and programmability features in the CBDC.
Das had then said, "Programmability will facilitate transactions for specific/targeted purposes while offline functionality will enable these transactions in areas with poor or limited internet connectivity."
Speaking on Monday, Das said that despite the efforts being made by the Reserve Bank, the RBI still prefers UPI (Unified Payment Interface) among retail users.
"We certainly hope that changes going forward," he said. He informed that RBI has also enabled interoperability of CBDC with UPI.India has made the CBDC non-profitable by making it non-profitable to reduce any potential risk of bank intermediation, Das said, adding that the central bank creates the CBDC and banks distribute it.
He said that to widen the reach of e-Rupee, the RBI has recently announced the participation of non-banks in the pilot project, with the hope that their access will expand to provide distribution and value added services of the CBDC. May be useful.
