The Reserve Bank of India is putting up a pilot project on QR Code-based Coin Vending Machines (QCVM) in partnership with a few of India’s top banks to increase coin distribution to the general people.
The QCVM is a cashless coin dispenser that releases coins in exchange for a debit to the customer’s bank account through the use of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
The RBI governor stated on Wednesday that the QCVM would do away with the necessity for actual tendering of banknotes and their validation. This is in contrast to existing cash-based coin vending machines. Customers will also be able to withdraw coins from QCVMs in the necessary quantities and denominations. The trial project will first be implemented at 19 sites in 12 cities across the nation.
To improve convenience and accessibility, these vending machines are designed to be placed in public locations such as train stations, malls, and marketplaces. Guidelines would be given to banks to encourage better distribution of coins using QCVMs based on the lessons learned from the pilot tests.
