Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said today that the central bank will start a pilot project to launch QR code-based coin-operated vending machines.
Addressing the monetary policy outcome, Das said that this will be done to improve ease of access to currencies.
QR-Based Coin Vending Machine: What We Know So Far
1) The Reserve Bank of India will launch a pilot project on QR Code Based Coin Vending Machines (QCVM) in 12 cities.
2) These vending machines will dispense coins against the customer’s account
3) These vending machines will dispense coins using UPI instead of physical bill delivery.
4) This will improve the ease of access to coins.
5) RBI Governor Das said that based on learnings from the pilot, guidelines will be issued to banks to promote coin distribution using these machines.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to raise the key benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent on Wednesday. Four of the six MPC members have decided to go ahead with this repo rate increase, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday.
The repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends funds to commercial banks when required. It is a tool used by the central bank to control inflation.
In its December monetary policy review, the central bank raised the key benchmark (repo) interest rate by 35 basis points (bp) after making three consecutive 50-bp hikes.
Since May last year, the RBI has increased the short-term borrowing rate by 225 basis points.