Many local news outlets in India reported that the community of the country is taking less interest in its digital rupee. As reported by the Hindu Business, the currency does not show any distinction from internet-based banking, and the consumers were in advance satisfied with that.

The initial reports disclose that the digital rupee was witnessing decreased trade volumes, compelling the banking organizations to preserve administrative issues for cash.

The Policymakers in India Advocate for the Central Bank Digital Currency

Since 2018’s April, the policymakers in India have attempted to prohibit private crypto assets, referring to customer protection as well as the apprehensions dealing with their utility in illegitimate operations like money laundering. The country’s Supreme Court declared that the ban was unconstitutional, overthrowing the ruling.

The response of the policymakers was the implementation of disciplinary taxes of up to 30% over the profits made from the transactions of cryptocurrency along with an additional 1% in the form of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). As a consequence of that, the exchanges operating within the jurisdiction expressed a considerable drop in their trading volumes.

During this whole episode, the country’s Reserve Bank and Nirmala Sitharaman (the Finance Minister) promoted the digital rupee. In March this year, the Indian finance minister stated that several benefits would be provided by the digital rupee in the organization of international transactions.

As per her, the countries are presently engaged in sending bulk payments and huge transfers are being made between the organizations as well as the central banks.

The Digital Rupee Remains Ineffective in Fulfilling the Expectations

In her words, this all can be done in a better way through a digital currency. The start of the pilot project for the digital rupee was witnessed on the 1st of December this year and the native media covered this event comprehensively.

In contrast to the native media, Reuters pointed out that the respective pilot project has been operating for up to one month. Keeping in view the respective timespan, the bankers specified that the program could not become successful.

The chief cause behind the inefficiency of the digital rupee was that it did not offer any benefits above the already working internet banking. Apart from that, bankers also discussed the incapability of in the case of interbank settlements. As mentioned by a banking executive, the system of the digital rupee operates by settling every transaction individually.

On the other hand, the former interbank system ran the netting of settlements in bulk with a clearing firm. Another executive was of the view that the lower volumes as well as a reduced uptake additionally signified that there is a requirement to keep the previous systems.

The banks would get extremely loaded if both systems are run simultaneously. It means that there is a requirement for managing cash also due to the inefficiency of the latest project.

In such a case, there would be a need for extra labor as well as additional paperwork. As the reports put it, Indian citizens do not have much interest in central bank digital currencies at the moment.

Analogous findings were seen after a 1-year update covering eNaira (the CBDC project conducted by Nigeria). Nick Giambruno, a Geopolitical Analyst, asserted that eNaira’s huge decline denoted the distrust of people in the dominant elite.