Permanent deletion of transactions can help make e-rupee anonymous: Das

Governor Shaktikanta Das said that permanent deletion of transactions can make the e-rupee or central bank digital currency become anonymous and make it at par with paper currency

Governor Shaktikanta Das on May 6 said that permanent deletion of transactions can make the e-rupee or central bank digital currency (CBDC) become anonymous and make it at par with paper currency.

Speaking at the BIS Innovation Summit, Mr. Das said India is also working on making the CBDC transferable in the offline mode along with introducing the programmability feature to help its financial inclusion goals.

It can be noted that since the introduction of the CBDC in late 2022, there have been concerns about the privacy aspect, with some saying that the electronic nature will leave a trail of where all the currency has been used, unlike cash which offers anonymity.

"Anonymity can be addressed through legislation and/or through technology. For example, through permanent deletion of transactions," Mr. Das said.

"The basic principle is that CBDC can have the same degree of anonymity as cash, no more and no less," he added.

In the past, the RBI brass, including Mr. Das and his Deputy T Rabi Sankar have said that technology offers the solutions to such concerns on privacy.

In the run-up to the launch of the pilot, former RBI Governor D Subbarao had in 2021 had flagged the issue of data privacy saying the CBDC will allow the government or the RBI access to all the data on how each unit of the currency has been used and also asked for a strong data protection law to tackle with it.