25 June 2024 Punjab Khabarnama : Usage of India’s digital currency, the e-rupee, has slumped to just a tenth of the peak hit in December, four sources said, reflecting the struggles several countries have experienced in trying to generate public support for digital currencies.
The Reserve Bank of India started a pilot for the e-rupee, devised as a digital alternative to physical cash, in December 2022, and successfully reached a target of 1 million retail transactions per day by December 2023.
The achievement came only after banks were asked to push up transactions by offering incentives to retail users and disbursing a portion of bank employees’ salaries using the e-rupee.
But now that the push has diminished, daily transaction numbers have fallen to about 100,000, said two of the sources, who are directly involved in the pilot.
This shows there is little organic demand to use the e-rupee, said a third source, a banker involved in the project.