Mrunal’s Economy Win23 Updates For UPSC & Other Competitive Exams

Contents
10 Economy Topicwise Breakup in UPSC .................................................................................................. 2
10.1 Win23 Series Economy- FAQ? ................................................................................................... 2
10.2 Pillar1A1: Money, Digital Payments, Bitcoin, CBDC .............................................................. 3
10.2.1 Win20: already covered this in 1A1 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है) ............................................................. 3
10.2.2 Win21: already covered this in 1A1 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है) ............................................................. 3
10.2.3 Win22: already covered this in 1A1 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है) ............................................................. 4
10.3 � Digital Payments ................................................................................................................... 5
10.4 � NPCI → UPI (Unified Payment Interface) ...................................................................... 5
10.4.1 � NPCI → UPI → 123PAY for FeaturePhones ............................................................. 6
10.4.2 UPI observations by �ES23 ................................................................................................. 6
10.4.3 UPI single-block-and-multiple-debits functionality (2022-Dec)...................................... 7
10.4.4 UPI facility to foreign tourists coming to India (2023) ....................................................... 7
10.5 QR Code based Coin Vending Machine using UPI (2023-Feb) ............................................ 8
10.5.1 rMQR (Rectangular Micro QR Code) ................................................................................... 8
10.6 NPCi: Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) 2022-Reforms ..................................................... 8
10.7 �New Umbrella Entity (NUE) for Retail Payments System (2019) .................................. 8
10.7.1 � � Card Tokenization (from 1/Oct/2022) ................................................................... 9
10.8 �� Crypto-Currency & Blockchain Technology ............................................................ 10
10.8.1 Crypto-winter (िक्र�ो मुद्रा के दामों म� भारी �गरावट) ............................................................................... 10
10.8.2 FTX cryptoscam ...................................................................................................................... 11
10.8.3 Crypto currency observations by �ES23 ......................................................................... 11
10.9 ��� Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) .............................................................. 11

Link for free live lectures of Win23 Series:

https://unacademy.com/@mrunal.org/courses?&type=special

Mrunal’s Economy Win23 Series Pillar#1A1: Money- Digital Payment, Crypto, CBDC → Page 1 (Discount Code: “Mrunal.org”)
10 ECONOMY TOPICWISE BREAKUP IN UPSC
Mrunal’s Prelims P1 (GS 100 🔠🔠❓MCQs) Mains GSM-1-2-3 (750 Marks) Remarks
Economy: 6
PillarsTM
2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022
💳💳1_Money 0 Most useful
Banking, in Prelims
6 6 7 7 9 6 8 25 0 0 0 15 15 but less in
Finance &
Insurance Mains
0 Second
🍋🍋2_Budget, lowest
3 3 4 1 1 1 3 12.5 30 25 25 15 20 utility after
FC, GST, FRBM
5_Infra
0 Third
💱💱3_Intl_Trad lowest
11 4 4 7 7 2 4 25 0 30 0 15 15 utility after
e, BoP
2_Budget.
🛒🛒4_Sectors, 85 Useful for
GDP, Inflation, both
4 8 3 8 5 5 4 25 60 50 65 55 60 prelims
Microeconomic
s and Mains.
20 Lowest
🏗🏗5_Infrastuctu utility
2 4 1 3 1 0 2 37.5 10 15 15 15 30 among 6
re
pillars.
20 Useful for
both
�6_HRD 3 4 6 2 0 0 0 50 40 60 75 85 45 prelims
and Mains.
29Q 29Q 28Q 23 14 21 200 185 125
Total 25Qs 175m 140m 180m 180m
s s s Qs Qs Qs m m m

10.1 WIN23 SERIES ECONOMY- FAQ?

⇒ The advantage of buying Iphone, Oneplus, Nokia or AndroidOne series of phones is they
provide (free) operating system updates/security patches for 2-3 years. I believe coaching
industry too needs to adopt similar business practice. महंगा फोन खरीदने पर मु� म� �नय�मत ऑपरेिटंग �स�म
क� अपडेटस �मलती है तो, को�चंग �ास म� भी ऐसी सु�वधा होनी चािहए, इस�लए मेने ये मुहीम शु� क� है. 😅😅 🙏🙏
⇒ So, this ‘Win23 update patch/handout’ is for my old batch students who had joined my economy
classes before Feb-2023. It contains updates since the UPSC Prelim-2023 (i.e. May 2022
onwards), including Budget 2023,Economic Survey 2023, and other exam-worthy Economy
Current Affairs Updates in Economy.
Type of Student If not joined IF Attended Mrunal’s LIVE Full (Paid) Course �
Unacademy Before Feb- Before Feb- Before Before
2020 2021 Feb-2022 Feb-2023
Shd see � Yes � Yes � No need � No � No
Win20CSP? need need

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 Type of Student If not joined IF Attended Mrunal’s LIVE Full (Paid) Course �
Unacademy Before Feb- Before Feb- Before Before
2020 2021 Feb-2022 Feb-2023
Shd see � Yes � Yes � Yes � No � No
Win21CSP? need need
Shd see Win22CSP � Yes � Yes � Yes � Yes � No
need
Shd see Win23CSP � Yes � Yes � Yes � Yes � Yes
 FAQ1: Do I still need to see Win20- for Win23?: if there is tick mark in your cell, then ✅ Yes
because in UPSC, they even ask Contemporary issues of economy which are 3 to 5 years old.
 FAQ2: “✋ No need” = means you don’t have to watch that series, because it was
taught/embedded within your paid course.

10.2 PILLAR1A1: MONEY, DIGITAL PAYMENTS, BITCOIN, CBDC

10.2.1 Win20: already covered this in 1A1👇👇 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है)
Red highlight = I don’t find it very useful for 2023 exam cycle. You may ignore it.

 💸💸New Coins and Notes

 💸💸💸�RBI’s App to help the blind identify currency notes
 Budget-2020: A museum for coins
 💳💳 ⏰NEFT becomes free & available 24/7
 💳💳Digital Payment → MDR developments
 �💳💳New Umbrella Entity (NUE) for Retail Payments System (2019)
 🚕🚕🚕🚕 National Common Mobility Card (NCMC, 2019)
 🚕🚕🚕🚕 FASTag for paying toll fees at highways (2017)
 �📒📒📒📒 RBI’s Nandan Nilekani Panel (2019: Jan to May)
 💳💳💳💳💳 Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 – 2021
 💮💮💮💮💮💮 Cryptocurrency & India → RBI ban revoked by SC
 💮💮💮💮 Cryptocurrency & India → ⚖ Banning of Cryptocurrency Bill, 2019
 💮💮💮💮💮💮 Cryptocurrency & world → Stable-coins
 🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐🌐 Cryptocurrency & world → UNICEF’s Crypto Donation Fund

10.2.2 Win21: already covered this in 1A1👇👇 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है)
 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷 Cheque → Positive Pay Mechanism for Cheques in CTS
 💸💸💸💸Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA), 2020-Oct
 QR Codes: compulsory to implement UPI/Bharat QR from 2022
 �📜📜📜📜 Perpetual Licence for Payment System Operators?
 � 💳💳💳💳 Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) 2020-Jun

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 � 💳💳 📯📯 Scheme of Offline Retail Payments Using Cards and Mobile Devices
 🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯 Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
 🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫 Redenomination: drop zeros, change name
 🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫 Iran = Toman to replace Iranian Riyal (2020)

10.2.3 Win22: already covered this in 1A1👇👇 (हम आगे पढ़ चुके है)
 💸💸 Digital Payments- RBI’s CPS: PPI also eligible
 💸💸 NPCI: UPI, IMPS, New updates
 💸💸 NPCi’s UPI-IMPS- 2 lakh → ⏫5 lakh
 💸💸 : NPCi’s UPI: International cooperation
 💸💸 : NPCi's UPMS for bill payment (2022)
 💳💳 PLASTIC Money: New Updates after Win21
 💳💳 MDR: Merchant Discount Rate (�ापा�रक छू ट दर)
 💳💳 📧📧 Card Tokenization (Fake Gmail ID Bnaao Yojana)
 � 💳💳: Offline Retail Payments Using Cards and Mobile Devices
 �💸💸💸💸 Digital Payment: DBT → E-Rupi by NPCi (2021)
 💸💸💸💸 Digital Payment: New Orgs in News
 💸💸💸💸: Post office to get CBS- says 👜👜👜👜Budget-2022
 💸💸💸💸: Digital Payments- (Proposal) Digital Banks by NITI Aayog (2021)
 💸💸💸💸: Digital Payments- NeoBanks
 🔗🔗🔗🔗 Bitcoin / Crypto-Currency Updates Since Win21 Series
 🔗🔗🔗🔗:❄Hot Wallet vs Cold Wallet
 🔗🔗🔗🔗:Crypto-Winter in Bitcoin Prices (भाव �गरा अब उठ निह रहा है)
 🔗🔗🔗🔗 🤘🤘🏳🏳El-Salvador: Bitcoin becomes a legal tender (2021)
 🔗🔗🔗🔗: Bitcoin Profit pe 30% Tax in 👜👜👜👜Budget-2022
 🔗🔗🔗🔗: Bitcoin Purchase pe 1% TDS in 👜👜👜👜Budget-2022
 🔗🔗🔗🔗 : Facebook’s Stablecoin Project DIEM/LIBRA sold to another company
 💠💠≠ ❇ Non-fungible token (NFT: ग़ैर-फ़ं जीबल टोकन)
 🔗🔗🔗🔗 Blockchain- new updates: DEFI and BalPurskar
 🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯 Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
 📊📊 Digital Payment related Index / Competitions
 📊📊RBI Digital Payments Index (DPI: िड�जटल भुगतान सूचकांक)
 🐯🐯🐯🐯 RBI’s Financial Inclusion Index (�व�ीय समावेशन सूचकांक)
 Harbinger Hackathon 2021

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10.3 💸💸 📡📡 DIGITAL PAYMENTS

This is already known to you, but I am giving it for the mental warmup ki economy ki class hai.

10.4 � 🤳🤳NPCI → UPI (UNIFIED PAYMENT INTERFACE)

Figure 1: Above is not hundred percent technically correct explanation, but it is just to help you visualise.

UPI is a technology for building digital payment apps based on IMPS with following features:

⇒ QR Scan & Pay to merchants.

⇒ You can link bank account for direct transfer of money without storing money in ‘wallet’ first.
(unlike AmazonPay / Mobikwick etc)
⇒ Such app can have Push transaction (e.g. Remittance to family), Pull Transaction (e.g. monthly
bill deduction by Electricity Co.) or even Bill sharing among friends.

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⇒ Examples of UPI based app: SBI’s SBIBuddy/Yono, Axis Bank’s AxisPay and NPCi’s own
BHIM.
⇒ UPI 2.0 (2018): Upgraded version of UPI. What are its new features? How is it different than
UPI 1.0? Ans. NOTIMP #RAFTAAR 🏎🏎🐢🐢
⇒ NPCI has been signing agreements with organisations in Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, Europe etc.
so that directly Indian tourists in those foreign countries can directly spend the money from
their Indian bank account by using UPI-Based Apps. How? Ans. NOTIMP #RAFTAAR 🏎🏎🐢🐢

10.4.1 � 🤳🤳NPCI → UPI → 123PAY for FeaturePhones

⇒ If user doesn’t have a smartphone. If he has a Basicphone/Featurephone- with number pads:-
still he can use UPI using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) code (99#).
⇒ However this feature was very cumbersome. It was not very popular among the people. (�ाटर्फ़ोन म�
तो UPI आधा�रत ढेर सारी ए� ह� िक�ु बे�जक/फ़�चर फ़ोन म� UPI द्वारा पैसों का लेन देन काफ़� जिटल और क�न� िक़� का था.
इस�लए ग़रीब लोग इसे इ�ेमाल निह करते थे। �रज़वर् ब�क और NPCI ने �मलकर नई मुिहम/ �ेटफ़ॉमर् बनाया ‘123PAY’)
So, 2022-March: RBI launched a new UPI platform named 123PAY (with help of NPCI) to give more
UPI-payment options for Featurephones/Basicphones such as-

- 1) USSD – (This was already available.)

- 2) Interactive voice response or (IVR)
- 3) missed call-based payments - user sends a missed call and then system calls him back in IVR
mode (ग़रीब आदमी �मस्ड कॉल देता है तो सामने से उसे �चा�लत फ़ोन कॉल आएगा जहाँ वो �रकॉड�ड आवाज़ द्वारा िदए गए
सूचनाओं के िहसाब से अलग अलग नं बर दबाकर पैसों का भुगतान कर सकता है।)
- 4) proximity sound-based payments -allow transactions using sound waves for contactless
payments to other phones. (��न आधा�रत �शर्-हीन भुगतान)
- 5) easier utility bill payment (gas, electricity etc) via feature phone
- 6) user need to link the bank account with feature phone. → Money transfer, check account
balances, pay utility bills, recharge FAST Tags of their vehicles etc
- 7) New app for Featurephone
Benefit? 😍😍⏫ Digital payment among the poor people who do not have smart phones but have
feature phones. (ग़रीब लोग �जनके पास महँ गा वाला �ाटर्फ़ोन नहीं है वे भी िड�जटल भुगतान कर पाएं गे.)

10.4.2 UPI observations by 📙📙ES23

Year Total No. of Digital Transactions (Crores) UPI’s Share of Digital Transactions
FY19 3,100 17%
FY20 4,600 27%
FY22 8,840 52%
 total number of digital transactions steadily increased in the last three years.
 % share of UPI in the total digital transactions also steadily increased in the last three years.
यूपीआई द्वारा �ड�जटल भुगतान म� काफ� बढ़ोतरी �ई है और यह सब ब�त महान है ऐसा आ�थक सव��ण ने पाया.

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10.4.3 UPI single-block-and-multiple-debits functionality (2022-Dec)
BEFORE AFTER
⇒ Autopay single-block-and-single- ⇒ single-block-and-multiple-debits functionality.
debit functionality. e.g. Every ⇒ e.g. if bank account has 1 lakh rupees then
month Torrent Electricity earmarking that autocut Not more than 10k for
company can cut the electricity amazon, not more than 20k for mutual fund/SIP etc.
bill payment from my bank every month.
account until my bank account is ⇒ This type of multiple blocks can be created for E-
exhausted. Commerce, hotel bookings, purchase of shares,
bonds, G-Sec.
⇒ Additional commands/mandates may be given e.g.
cut money after delivery is made.
HOW will it work in real life? Ans. Notimp. Neither RBI governor nor the newspaper-Wala
bothered to explain in detail. so I did not bother to do PHD.

10.4.4 UPI facility to foreign tourists coming to India (2023)

�वदेशी ��� भारत म� ब�क खाता खोलकर यूपीआई वाली मोबाइल ऐप द्वारा भारत म� खरीदारी कर सके ऐसे
�रजवर् ब�क कदम उठा रहा है.
BEFORE From 2023
if such non-resident/foreigner came to India, he could not do This facility made available to
shopping using UPI money transfer from their NRE/NRO** G20 nations ke tourists coming
bank account, to India.
** Non-Resident Indians/foreigners can open bank accounts in Indian banks. Such accounts are
known as NRE/NRO/FCNR (Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account). NRE/NRO/FCNR=
internal difference is not imp. For our exam.

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10.5 QR CODE BASED COIN VENDING MACHINE USING UPI (2023-FEB)

Traditionally New experiment by RBI in 2023

insert paper-note to get coin
कागदी नोट �मशीन म� डालकर छु ट्टे
पैसे �नकालो
� transfer money from bank account via UPI
scan QR code�
�to get coins from machine
अपने ब�क खाते से UPI/QR-code द्वारा पैसा कटवाके बदले म� मशीन से छु ट्टे पैसे
�नकालो

10.5.1 rMQR (Rectangular Micro QR Code)

⇒ 1990s: JAPANESE ENGINEER Masahiro Hara, designed the square QR code

⇒ Now he’s working on rMQR (rectangular QR code).
⇒ rMQR can be printed in narrow spaces
⇒ rMQR has same scanning speed are normal square shaped QR code.

10.6 NPCI: BHARAT BILL PAYMENT SYSTEM (BBPS) 2022-REFORMS

NPCi’s BBPS online platform connects the specific types of sellers e.g. electricity, telecom, DTH, gas,
water bills, etc. with buyers. So buyer can easily pay monthly bills online. Buyer can also raise
complaints related to bill/transaction failure.

BEFORE AFTER
Only Recurring bills can be paid e.g. Both Recurring bills and Non-Recurring bills can be paid.
monthly electricity bill e.g. Non-Recurring / occasional payment for hotel
services.
Didn’t have facility to pay education Now this will also work.
fees, tax payments, rent collections

10.7 �NEW UMBRELLA ENTITY (NUE) FOR RETAIL PAYMENTS SYSTEM (2019)
⇒ Paytm has rival companies like Mobikwick, Phonepe; Mastercard vs Visa; SBI vs Axis Bank;
⇒ But there is no rival company against NPCi. वतर्मान समय म� NPCi का प्र�त�ध� कोई नहीं है

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⇒ NPCi is an umbrella entity for retail payments system - it operates in card payment (RuPay),
Money transfer (IMPS), Mobile Apps (UPI, BHIM), ATM Network (NFS) etc.
⇒ 2020: RBI issued a proposal, “if any Indian company interested to compete in this (NPCi-like)
retail payment segment, we’ll license them as new umbrella entity (NUE: खुदरा भुगतान के �लए नई छतरी
इकाई). Subject to these technical “XYZ” technical eligibility requirements”
⇒ 🤩🤩Benefits? More companies like NPCi → ⬆ competition → ⬆ innovation, cheaper
services for users. (�धार् बढ़ेगी=नए आ�व�ार होंगे, िड�जटल भुगतान सेवाएं पहले से भी �ादा स�ी / िकफायती/बहेतर हो)

Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flipkart and others had applied for NUE licences. But none of them met
RBI’s expectations. So, 2023-Jan: RBI has put this license process on halt/suspension.

10.7.1 💳💳 📧📧 Card Tokenization (from 1/Oct/2022)

⇒ Tokenisation = creates a set of numbers called ‘token’ to replace/hide the sensitive card data
such as the 16-digit account number, expiry date and security code. (हैिकंग से बचने वा�े असली काडर्
नं बर क� जगह टोकन/का��नक-नं बर बनाकर दे दो एसी बात है। तािक �वक्रेता का आपके काडर् क� गु� जानकारी �मले नहीं)
⇒ This ensures card information is not disclosed to merchant website= protection from hacking.
⇒ Card owner can generate Tokenization through visiting card-issuer’s/banker’s website/App
through laptops, desktops, tablet, wearables (smartwatch) etc.
⇒ From 1/10/2022, this became effective.

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10.8 🔗🔗🔗🔗 CRYPTO-CURRENCY & BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

10.8.1 Crypto-winter (िक्र�ो मुद्रा के दामों म� भारी �गरावट)

It is a term associated with the fall in prices of cryptocurrency.

Year Total value of all cryptocurrencies in US$

2021-Nov 3 trillion

Mrunal’s Economy Win23 Series Pillar#1A1: Money- Digital Payment, Crypto, CBDC → Page 10 (Discount Code: “Mrunal.org”)
 Year Total value of all cryptocurrencies in US$
2023-Jan Less than 1 trillion

10.8.2 FTX cryptoscam

⇒ FTX was a Bahama-based company/platform that allowed buying and selling of various crypto
currency.
⇒ Its founder/CEO arrested for scam → 10 lakh+ investors’ money got stuck.
⇒ How was the scam done? Ans. Its forensic analysis not important for our exam.
⇒ Sufficient to know these are the dangers associated with crypto currency.
ऑनलाइन �ेटफॉमर् जहां िक्र�ो मुद्रा क� खरीद �बक्र� क� जाती थी. 10 लाख से अ�धक �नवेशकों को चूना लगाया गया/ गबन �आ है

10.8.3 Crypto currency observations by 📙📙ES23

⇒ Cryptocurrencies are primarily held by a few big players/“whales”. So they can manipulate the
prices by manipulating the supply.
⇒ Problems related to electricity-consumption, tax-evasion, abnormal fluctuation in prices,
investors-fraud, no-intrinsic value et cetera.
⇒ then economic survey, 2023 give various examples of different-different legal provisions in EU,
Japan, Switzerland, Nigeria etc. But from exam point of view not much benefit chasing it.
⇒ sufficient to know that coordinated international effort required to regulate the sector. OECD
and G20 group are working in this direction. More about these intl.orgs in Pillar3B.
⇒ And ideally, we need strict rules over crypto-market, just like we’ve strict rules over sharemarket

चं द बडे �खला�ड़यों ने �ादातर िक्र�ोमुद्रा अपने क�े म� क� है. और वही �खलाडी इसक� स�ाई/आपू�त को �नयं �त्रत करके , उसके दामों
म� छे ड़छाड़ करते रहते ह�. िक्र�ो मुद्रा म� �बजली क� खपत, कर-चोरी, आम-�नवेशक से धांधली होती है. �व�भ� देशों म� इसपर अलग-
अलग के �नयम/कानून बनाए गए ह�, लेिकन वै��क �प से �नयमों म� एक�पता और सहकार क� ज�रत है- आ�थक सव��ण ने पाया.

10.9 🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯 CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY (CBDC)

Mrunal’s Economy Win23 Series Pillar#1A1: Money- Digital Payment, Crypto, CBDC → Page 11 (Discount Code: “Mrunal.org”)
What does latest budget / Economic Survey say about this CBDC? Ans. Not much for exam.

�📡📡MRUNAL’S ECONOMY COURSE FOR UPSC EXAM

Next Handout: Win23- Pillar1A2: RBI Monetary Policy, M0-M3, Repo, CRR etc.

Mrunal’s Economy Win23 Series Pillar#1A1: Money- Digital Payment, Crypto, CBDC → Page 12 (Discount Code: “Mrunal.org”)