RBI launches retail digital rupee in four cities

RBI launches retail digital rupee in four cities

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday launched the first pilot project for retail digital rupee in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar.
• The retail digital rupee project has started in a closed user group with the participation of four lenders - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank - as well as customers and merchants.
• The launch comes a month after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started a pilot in the digital rupee - wholesale on November 1.
• The Digital Rupee is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender and would offer "features of physical cash like trust, safety 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," the central bank said while announcing the pilot project on November 29.
• The use of digital rupee is also expected to reduce the operational costs related to management of physical currency as well as increase financial inclusion in the economy.

GST collection grows 11 per cent to Rs 1.46 lakh crore in November

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew by 11 per cent to about Rs 1.46 lakh crore in November on increased consumer spending and better compliance, according to government data on Thursday.
• This is the ninth month in a row that the revenues have remained above the Rs 1.4 lakh crore mark. However, the collection in November was the lowest since August.
• In October, GST collections had touched the second-highest level of Rs 1.52 lakh crore on festive spending. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of November 2022 is Rs 1,45,867 crore of which Central GST is Rs 25,681 crore, State GST is Rs 32,651 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 77,103 crore (including Rs 38,635 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,433 crore (including Rs 817 crore collected on import of goods).