In his address, the Governor said there should not be "any rush to roll out system-wide CBDC before one acquires a comprehensive understanding of its impact on users, on monetary policy, on the financial system and on the economy."

Such understanding would emerge from "generation of user data in pilots. Actual introduction of CBDC can be phased in gradually. Undoubtedly, CBDC has the potential to underpin the payment systems of future, both for domestic payments and also cross-border payments."

He said any approach to regulate the FinTech sector will "invariably be informed by five fundamental objectives: (i) financial stability, (ii) consumer protection, (iii) integrity of financial system, (iv) competition and (v) orderly development of sector concerned."

The notice says:

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (vi) of clause (sa) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003) (hereinafter referred to the as the Act), the Central Government hereby notifies that the following activities when carried out for or on behalf of another natural or legal person in the course of business as an activity for the purposes of said sub sub-clause, namely:-

(i) exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies;

(ii) exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets;

(iii) transfer of virtual digital assets;

(iv) safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets; and

(v) participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and sale of a virtual digital asset.

Explanation:- For the purposes of this notification “virtual digital asset” shall have the same meaning assigned to it in clause (47A) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961)."

The purpose of the Concept Note is to create awareness about CBDCs in general and the planned features of the Digital Rupee (e₹), in particular. It explains the objectives, choices, benefits, and risks of issuing a CBDC in India. The Note also seeks to explain Reserve Bank’s approach towards introduction of the CBDC.

The Concept Note also discusses key considerations such as technology and design choices, possible uses of Digital Rupee, issuance mechanisms, etc. It examines the implications of introduction of CBDC on the banking system, monetary policy, financial stability, and analyses privacy issues.

The Reserve Bank will soon commence pilot launches of e₹ for specific use cases. As the extent and scope of such pilot launches expand, RBI will continue to communicate about the specific features and benefits of e₹, from time to time.