Soon, you may be able to use the same QR codes for e-Rupee and UPI payments

In a few weeks, the QR codes for Central Bank Digital Currency- retail (e-Re retail) and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) could become interoperable, according to a report in The Hindu Businessline (HBL). This means that merchants can accept payments made through e-Re retail using the same QR code they use for UPI payments. They will no longer need to have a separate QR code for e-Re transactions.

The National Payments Council of India (NPCI) and the Reserve Bank of India are closely working on this project. HBL quoted sources as saying that the interoperability between e-Re and UPI QRs will be implemented only at the front end. UPI will continue to follow a different process at the back end, and e-Re will continue to operate in the current way. UPI is directly connected to the user's bank accounts, while e-Re operates on a bank wallet mechanism.

Both payment processes will function independently at the back end. After interoperability becomes operational, a payment made through the UPI gateway will be credited to the receiver's UPI account, and a payment done through e-Re will be credited into the receiver's wallet.

A banker was quoted as saying that unless more merchants sign up for the use of e-Re, its adoption rate will remain poor. This upgrade to e-Re is crucial to boost the adoption rate of digital currencies. The adoption rate for UPI gateways by merchants is strong and rising steadily, and they already have QR stickers for various payment gateways. The banker added that merchants resisted the idea of piling on another QR sticker, and therefore, it was decided to make e-Re QR codes and UPI interoperable.

According to RBI reports, the total value of e-Re payments in the country is just about Rs 16.39 crore. The value of retail digital currency transactions was less than Rs 6 crore.