The hour of reckoning has not come: trade requested two years for transition to the digital ruble

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and retail chains are not ready for the transition to the digital rouble. In the ministry's response to the draft law on the start of settlements in this currency in retail, they ask for a transition period of two years. This will allow to finalize the software, to make the necessary changes in information systems, specified in the Ministry. Earlier, the head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market Anatoly Aksakov prepared a bill on the start of the use of the digital ruble in retail from July 1, 2025.

What is a digital ruble

The head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov sent a bill on the use of universal QR in Russia to the government back in late October. "Izvestia" has familiarized itself with it. The document, among other things, obliges the trade to provide customers with an opportunity to pay for purchases with digital rubles. Such an obligation for large federal retailers should come into force from July 1, 2025. Further, depending on the revenue - 30 million rubles or 20 million - companies can get a delay of several years.

The explanatory note to the project says that this approach can reduce the costs of retail chains. Now retailers bear the costs of acquiring - when using terminals to pay with cards from each purchase, with the digital ruble this link can be eliminated.

TheMinistry of Industry and Trade considered such promptness unnecessary, follows from the response of the agency to Anatoly Aksakov (Izvestia has it). The point is that this term may create risks for trade when business starts to connect to the necessary infrastructure. So far it is impossible to assess them to a proper degree, as there are still no rules for the operation and functioning of the digital ruble, the department's response said.

Inorder to streamline all the processes, time is needed - a transition period of two years, the ministry believes. This will allow to finalize the software, make changes to information systems if necessary, as well as to conduct test trials and train personnel, the Ministry of Industry and Trade emphasized in its response.

The ministry's position should be further discussed, Anatoly Aksakov told Izvestia. He admits that in Russia there will be large retailers who will be ready to connect to the digital ruble system from the summer of 2025. After all, we are talking about a new means of payment, in which Russians are already showing interest, he said. Moreover, the Central Bank has already conducted a pilot project, which tested this technology, it involved 21 thousand retail outlets, no difficulties companies have not found, emphasized the head of the Duma Committee.

- The digital ruble gives people the opportunity to use another tool to pay for goods, which has a number of invisible advantages: speed, fixation of transactions, traceable funds, which can be an effective way to protect against fraudsters, - said the head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market.

"Izvestia" sent requests to the largest banks of the Russian Federation, including "Sber", VTB, Alfa Bank and others.

The Central Bank said that the bill is currently under discussion.

What difficulties may be encountered by trade

Theindustry agrees with the Ministry's opinion, it follows from the responses of leading retailers to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Izvestia has it). Thus, the Association of Retail Trade Companies (ACORT) noted that the already created information systems, with the help of which the transfer of digital money is carried out, are quite complicated. Moreover, they are subject to a high level of reliability and security requirements. Retailers need time to test their work.

"We believe it is necessary to refrain from legislating specific terms for the launch of systems at the level of trade and to provide for a transition period of at least two years, during which companies will carry out the necessary work," the ACORT letter says.

The Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT) agrees with their colleagues: so far there are blind spots in the digital ruble issue. For example, the rules of operation and functioning of such a means are not ready to the end, moreover, the activity between the payment system and market participants is not regulated in any way, which can create difficulties.

"The absence of such important provisions does not give businesses the opportunity to assess costs in terms of implementation time, necessary human resources, expenses for the company, as well as to understand to what extent companies are ready to implement the conduct of such payments," the association said in its response.

Now the only potential advantage of digital ruble payments may be the reduced tariffs for transactions compared to conventional acquiring, which will allow businesses to reduce transaction costs to a certain extent, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, told Izvestia.

- But we have reasonable doubts that a reduction in business costs will lead to a corresponding reduction in prices for consumers. Especially since the use of such a means of payment requires a certain infrastructure, the creation and maintenance of which will require investment," he said.

Given that existing financial instruments provide consumers with a wide range of ways to pay for goods and services, for example, by card, QR code, biometrics and so on, the creation of any new retail payment mechanisms does not seem to be a top priority, the expert believes.