Bank of India has successfully launched user-level programmable digital rupee functionality and auto-issuance capability on its Central Bank Digital Currency platform, according to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine. The new feature, developed by Montran India, allows account holders to schedule automatic transfers of digital rupees (e₹) to beneficiary CBDC wallets at fixed amounts and frequencies, while implementing spending restrictions on the recipient's end. This user-level programmability gives customers greater flexibility and control over recurring payments, with the sender configuring the transfer once rather than authorizing the same transfer manually every month.
The system operates without manual intervention once configured, with purpose-based controls traveling with the money as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. This automated approach eliminates the need for monthly manual repetition of the same payments and provides customers with greater control over recurring transactions. The feature is built in compliance with Reserve Bank of India and National Payments Corporation of India guidelines, offering built-in support for allowances, education expenses and other recurring, purpose-bound payments. As per Montran India CEO Julie Esca, programmability turns the digital rupee from a payment instrument into a policy tool, noting that attaching usage conditions to currency represents a distinct advance over standard wallet transfers.
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, practical applications include parents sending monthly education allowances to children in other cities, with spending locked to approved categories such as tuition and meals. The system allows a parent supporting a child studying in another city to replace manual monthly transfers with standing instructions: a fixed sum, credited to the child's e₹ wallet on the same date each month, spendable on tuition, meals and other education expenses the parent approved in advance. Montran India CEO Julie Esca described programmability as converting the digital rupee from a payment instrument into a policy tool, emphasizing that this marks a meaningfully different capability than wallet-to-wallet transfers.
The launch aligns with the RBI's expansion of digital rupee pilots beyond basic wallet transfers into welfare disbursement and cross-border payments, as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. Bank of India is among the participating lenders in the central bank's ongoing CBDC rollout, which has been moving from pilot toward broader everyday use. Bank of India General Manager and CTO Ashutosh Mishra emphasized that the feature provides customers greater control over recurring transactions and marks another important step in Bank of India's digital rupee journey. The launch positions e₹ as central to the next phase of India's digital payments infrastructure, with auto issuance giving banks a concrete answer to RBI's mandate for programmable, purpose-bound instruments.
