Government unlikely to bring Bill on Cryptocurrencies in Parliament’s winter session
Top sources said on Wednesday that the government is unlikely to bring a bill on cryptocurrencies in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. He also suggested that whenever a Bill is brought, it will be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for wider consultation with the stakeholders.
The bill, which was listed in the legislative business of the government’s winter session, seeks to “create a facilitating framework for the creation of an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India”. It also seeks to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it allows “certain exceptions to promote cryptocurrency and the technology underlying its use”, according to the bill listed to be introduced on the Lok Sabha website. Sources said it is unlikely that the bill will be brought in the current winter session.
Currently, there is no regulation or any restriction on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting on cryptocurrencies with senior officials last month, and there are indications that stronger regulatory steps may be taken to tackle the issue.
In recent days there has been an increasing number of advertisements promising easy and high returns on investment in cryptocurrencies, even featuring movie stars, amid concerns about such currencies to investors. Being tempted with misleading claims is being used.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by BJP member Jayant Sinha, also met representatives of the Crypto Exchanges, Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), and came to the conclusion that cryptocurrencies should not be banned but regulated.
RBI has repeatedly reiterated its strong views against cryptocurrencies, saying they pose a serious threat to the country’s macroeconomic and financial stability and the number of investors trading on them and their claimed market value. Doubt it too.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also reiterated his view against allowing cryptocurrencies earlier this month, saying they pose a serious threat to any financial system as they are unregulated by central banks.
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