Central Bank Will Launch QR Code-Based Coin Vending Machines The pilot project is planned to be initially rolled out at 19 locations in 12 cities across the country in places like railway stations, shopping malls, market places

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das, on Wednesday, said that the central bank will launch a pilot project on QR code-based coin vending machines (QCVM).

According to a report by ANI, these machines will dispense coins against a debit to the customer's account using unified payment interface (UPI) instead of physical tendering of banknotes. The pilot will be launched in 12 cities in the country. The pilot project is planned to be initially rolled out at 19 locations in 12 cities across the country in places like railway stations, shopping malls, market places, according to reports.

"This will enhance the ease of accessibility to coins. Based on the learnings from the pilot, guidelines will be issued to banks to promote the distribution of coins using these machines," the governor said in a statement.

The machine was developed in-house and a pilot project was launched, which is now being expanded, Sankar said, adding that the newly announced project will improve the distribution of coins in the system.

Getting fake currency notes in coin vending machines led the Reserve Bank to announce the unified payment system-based alternative. Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar, on Wednesday, said that the RBI had installed coin vending machines at strategic places like vegetable markets where there is a high demand for coins but had to grapple with the challenge of fake notes.

"The problem then was that the currency that was being fed into these machines was found to be very often fake, so that became an issue," said Sankar.