IDFC First Bank has tied up with Anantham Online, a technology startup focused on digital parking solutions, to accept digital rupee at Kochi Metro’s parking locations. 

This partnership follows the recently launched Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a pilot programme launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for retail users.

The project will help Kochi Metro users to pay digitally using their bank’s CBDC Wallets.  Cash transactions can, thus, be averted.

CBDC is in the first phase of its implementation with four banks, including IDFC First Bank. Digital rupee acts just like cash transactions to instill safety and trust.

“This partnership will transform the way customers pay, and make it more seamless and hassle-free. Digitisation of cash payments aims to make transactions easier for our customers and is in line with our customer-first philosophy,” said IDFC First Bank chief operating officer Madhivanan Balakrishnan.

The retail CBDC will be mainly used for retail payments just like “Cash”. It will be a digital rupee (e₹-R), signifying legal tender in the form of digital token and issued in the same denominations as paper currency and coins. The digital rupee will be distributed through intermediaries, i.e., banks. 

Kochi will be the first metro in the country to implement the e-rupee. “The IDFC First bank steered CBDC system will be made applicable in the collection of parking fees from the parked vehicles at metro station parking areas,” said Kochi Metro managing director Loknath Behra.

As per the RBI, users will be able to transact with e₹-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones or hardware wallets to facilitate person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. The e₹-R will continue to offer features of physical cash of safety, trust, and settlement finality. As in the case of cash, it will not earn any interest and can be converted to other forms of money, like deposits with banks.