Patna becomes the 1st municipal corporation to use CBDC

• 24 May 2023

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 23 May 2023, the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Municipal Commissioner of Patna Municipal Corporation of Bihar launched the digital currency E-Rupee generated by the Reserve Bank of India due to which now this digital currency will be used in the entire Patna Municipal Corporation area.

Key Points:

• This payment system will be completely adopted in the municipal headquarter, Mauryalok complex. Along with this, it will also be used at all zonal and payment counters of Patna Municipal Corporation.
• Significantly, Patna Municipal Corporation is the first Municipal Corporation in India to use CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). During this, a workshop was also organized for the corporators, where they were given information about the benefits and uses of digital e-Rupee.
• During this, Sanjeev Dayal, Regional Head, Reserve Bank of India said that this is a better and safer system, where the amount is credited immediately as soon as the payment is made. Common citizens will get convenience if it is digitally trendy. Easy payments will be done in one click.
• Municipal Commissioner Animesh Kumar Parashar said that continuous efforts are being made to make the works of Patna Municipal Corporation accessible to the public and to ease the process of payment. Apart from increasing the income of Patna Municipal Corporation through online payment system under no cost process, facilities are being provided to common people sitting at home.
• He said that at present online payment is being done in Patna Municipal Corporation at 30%, the target is to make it 90 to 95%.
• It is worth mentioning that CBDC is a digital currency, but this currency is different from private currency. The cryptocurrency market has grown rapidly in the last decade. Private digital currencies do not represent liabilities of any individual, as they do not have an issuer.