Anand Mahindra got to know about the e-rupee at an RBI board meeting and decided to put it to use. He went to a fruit vendor and purchased some fruit using the payment method.

By Divyanshi Sharma: Digital payments are the quickest way to settle balances and the most hassle-free as well. There is no hassle about exchanging cash, spending time looking for change, etc. Even fruit vendors and auto drivers prefer digital transactions these days. But did you know that India’s digital currency, the e-rupee, is also available at some of the vendors? And it works the way your Google Pay and Paytm transactions do.

Business tycoon Anand Mahindra got to know about the e-rupee at an RBI board meeting and decided to put it to use. The billionaire went to a fruit vendor and purchased some fruit using the payment method. He then shared a video of how it works on social media.

Anana Mahindra buys fruit using e-rupee

Sharing the video of using the e-rupee to make payment to the fruit vendor, Anand Mahindra wrote, “At the Reserve Bank’s board meeting today I learned about the @RBI digital currency-the e-rupee. Right after the meeting I visited Bachche Lal Sahani, a nearby fruit vendor who is one of the first merchants to accept it. #DigitalIndia in action! (Got great pomegranates as well!).”

How the digital rupee works

The video shows how the digital rupee works and it is similar to other UPI transactions. All you need to do is scan the QR code, make the payment from your bank. It is to be noted that the digital rupee is a new payment method that was announced by the RBI in 2022. Only a handful of banks, those that have participated in the RBI’s digital rupee programs, can carry out transactions in the digital rupee. These banks that participated in the first phase of the program are the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, YES Bank, and IDFC First Bank.

What is the digital rupee?

The digital rupee is similar to your bank notes and coins, the only difference being that is in the digital form. In other words, it is a legal tender that is represented in the form of a digital token. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of the digital rupee in her budget speech of 2022-23. Since then, the country has been very interested in knowing more about the upcoming payment method which could be as popular as other digital payment methods in the country. As of now, UPI payments can be made through various methods, like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm, among others.