Anand Mahindra Makes an E-Rupee Purchase From a Street Vendor, Faces Backlash For Using A Plastic Bag

With considerable hoopla, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the digital e-Rupee as a pilot, legal money for businesses in India. CBDC, or Central Bank Digital Money, is essentially equivalent to fiat currency such as the paper bills and coins you keep in your wallet. It’s basically an electronic representation of the Indian rupee that can be stored and transferred in a digital wallet.

The digital Rupee is a novel effort to regulate decentralized cryptocurrencies, which the Indian government views with distaste. You may bypass the need for traditional banks altogether by using just your digital wallet. Anand Mahindra, an industrialist, was thrilled to see a street fruit seller advertising in e-Rupees after attending a session on digital money. Mr Mahindra, as usual, tweeted about it to his millions of followers. Some pomegranates (healthy for your blood, they say) are on his shopping list, and he is seen packing the juicy fruits in a disposable plastic ka thaila.

While the concept of utilizing digital cash is admirable in principle, Mr Mahindra was criticized online for purchasing pre-packaged, plastic-wrapped fruit. Only a few rushed to his rescue, and some even questioned the distinction between a traditional UPI and a digital e-Rupee. Typical people don’t know anything about the CBDC. While some ridiculed the idea of cryptocurrency itself. Below, you’ll see some of the feedback that Mr Mahindra has received from online users.