Reserve Bank of Bank governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday, April 5, announced that the RBI will propose to allow users to deposit cash in cash deposit machines (CDMs) through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Announcing the current fiscal’s first bi-monthly monetary policy of the RBI, Shaktikanta Das said, “Deposit of cash through cash deposit machines (CDMs) is primarily being done through the use of debit cards. Given the experience gained from cardless cash withdrawal using UPI at the ATMs, it is now proposed to facilitate deposit of cash in CDMs using UPI.”
The move is expected to further enhance the customer’s convenience and make the currency handling process easier for banks.
At the meeting, the RBI also decided to keep the main lending rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent, in line with expectations. The repo rate was raised by a total of 250 basis points between May 2022 and February 2023.
Robust growth provides space for monetary policy to remain focused on bringing inflation down to the central bank’s 4 per cent target, the RBI governor said in his statement.
Shaktikanta Das added that monetary policy must remain actively disinflationary at this stage.
Five out of six members voted in favour of the rate decision while the monetary policy stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ was retained with a majority of five votes.
The RBI said the Indian economy is expected to expand by 7 per cent in the fiscal year 2025, unchanged from its earlier forecast.
Strengthening rural demand, improving employment conditions and a sustained pick up in the manufacturing sector should boost consumer demand, Das said.
Retail inflation for 2024-25 is seen at 4.5 per cent, Das said, with volatile food prices seen as a continuing risk.
“Our effort is to ensure inflation aligns to target on a sustained basis,” he said.
The status quo policy left markets unmoved.
