India’s
central
bank
digital
currency,
the
digital
rupee,
crossed
a
million
transactions
in
a
day
on
Dec.
27,
2023
–
but
with
at
least
a
little
help
from
retail
banks’
own
employees.
CoinDesk
has
viewed
a
letter
dated
Dec.
29
by
the
Reserve
Bank
of
India
(RBI)
Governor
Shaktikanta
Das
to
staff
that
said
the
usage
of
the
e-rupee
(CBDC)
“exceeded
the
milestone
of
1
million
transactions
in
a
day
on
Dec.
27,
2023.”
A
separate
letter
from
one
of
the
banks
participating
in
the
e-rupee
pilot
said
it
had
been
encouraged
to
deposit
employee
funds
and
benefits
using
the
CBDC,
rather
than
use
the
existing
fiat
currency.
The
usage
of
the
word
“day”
reflects
this
was
a
one-time
milestone
and
it
is
likely
not
a
daily
occurrence
yet.
However,
the
stated
original
target
was
1
million
transactions
per
day
by
the
end
of
2023.
It
isn’t
clear
whether
usage
has
hit
a
daily
transaction
volume
of
more
than
1
million.
The
RBI
is
running
both
retail
and
wholesale
CBDC
pilots.
The
retail
CBDC
pilot
is
active
in
more
than
15
cities
with
more
than
a
dozen
banks
participating.
The
pilot
began
on
Dec.
1,
2022
but
the
RBI
has
not
announced
a
timeline
for
rolling
out
a
full-scale
retail
CBDC.
India
already
has
a
ubiquitous
cashless
movement:
the
Unified
Payments
Interface
(UPI).
As
a
result,
the
digital
rupee
has
struggled
to
reach
high
transaction
volumes,
averaging
only
around
25,000
a
day.
The
RBI
has
been
trying
to
increase
its
transaction
volumes
for
the
past
few
months,
a
source
told
CoinDesk
previously.
The
1
million
transactions
milestone
for
one
day
was
achieved
after
some
government-owned
and
private
sector
banks
deposited
the
salaries
and
benefits
of
their
employees
into
their
CBDC
wallets
last
month,
according
to
Reuters.
The
report
named
HDFC
Bank,
Kotak
Mahindra
Bank,
Axis
Bank,
Canara
Bank
and
IDFC
First
Bank.
Another
report
said
one
of
those
banks
was
also
Union
Bank
of
India,
a
government-owned
entity.
“With
an
aim
to
promote
CBDC
wallet
transactions,
banks
have
been
advised
to
encourage
all
staff
members
to
transact
using
the
digital
currency
and
ensure
100%
staff
registration
on
digital
rupee
app,”
the
bank
said
in
a
communication
to
employees
on
December
26.
Bank
management
had
decided
to
credit
newspaper
allowance
directly
to
the
CBDC
wallet
as
a
start.
The
bank
advised
all
its
employees
to
register
on
the
bank’s
digital
rupee
app.
The
report
also
stated
that
the
All
India
Union
Bank
Employees
Federation
–
a
trade
union
for
bank
employees
–
is
unhappy
with
the
move,
saying
that
the
management
cannot
compel
employees
to
use
the
wallet.
The
body
didn’t
immediately
respond
to
a
CoinDesk
request
for
comment.
A
representative
from
a
separate
group,
the
All
India
Union
Bank
Employees
Association,
struck
a
different
tone
in
an
interview
with
CoinDesk.
The
Association’s
general
Secretary,
N.
Shankar,
said
the
federation
was
a
“minority”
body.
“If
a
bank
offers
CBDC
services
to
customers
why
wouldn’t
it
offer
to
its
employees?
There
is
no
issue
at
all.
It
is
not
an
inconvenience,”
he
said.
“The
RBI
and
the
government
want
to
increase
wallet
account
transactions.
One
way
of
increasing
the
transactions
is
habituating
your
own
staff
members’
wallet
accounts.
That
is
one
way
of
doing
it.
There
is
nothing
wrong
in
that.”
The
RBI
and
the
banking
sector
often
collaborate
on
promoting
what
they
consider
best
practices
but
it
isn’t
clear
whether
banks
have
previously
gone
this
far.
The
RBI
didn’t
immediately
respond
to
a
CoinDesk
request
for
comment.
