Former Finance Minister Doubts Indian Government Understands Crypto – Regulation

The Indian government has not tabled the cryptocurrency bill that was scheduled for the winter session of Parliament. Former finance minister Subhash Chandra Garg says he has no confidence in the Indian government's ability to figure out cryptocurrencies. Garg led the inter-ministerial committee that drafted the original crypto bill that proposes banning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

India fails to re-introduce crypto bill in Parliament

The Indian government has failed to introduce the cryptocurrency law, which was listed for inclusion in the winter session of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. The meeting ended on Thursday.

Commenting on the government's failure to introduce the crypto law, former finance minister Subhash Chandra Garg told the IANS publication on Thursday that "he has no confidence in the government's ability to figure out the complexities of this new crypto phenomenon," the news agency said. He was further quoted as saying:

I expressed serious doubts when the government announced its intention to table the bill introducing the Crypto Assets/Currency Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Therefore, I am not surprised to see the current situation where there is no clarity on the Bill.

The Indian government has not revealed what is in the crypto invoice. However, there are reports that the government has decided to Regulate crypto assets but prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. The country's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said that the bill revised.

The original crypto bill was designed the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) headed by Garg. The “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019” proposed to ban all cryptocurrencies and regulate digital currencies issued by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Garg, who has resigned from his government job, now believes crypto assets should be regulated as a commodity.

This was the second time that the Indian government failed to introduce a crypto bill after putting it on the parliamentary agenda. The first time was in Budget meeting in February.

According to Garg, the Indian government is caught between two opposing sides: the RBI and the crypto industry. Noting that the government appears unable to make a decision, he described:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) believes that crypto technology and businesses are only in the currency business and is constantly urging the government to ban the cryptocurrencies and legally empower the RBI to issue digital banknotes.

The RBI said in its recent central board meeting that cryptocurrencies must be completely banned, emphasizing that a partial ban will not work. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has reiterated several times that the central bank is serious and Main concern regarding cryptocurrencies.

Garg added: “The cryptocurrency exchanges that are using the force of the other side want the government to treat cryptocurrencies as assets and legally create a regulatory mechanism for it.”

He explained that the government is also facing other critical issues, including the potential misuse of crypto for hawala and money laundering, billions of dollars worth of investments fleeing abroad, and crypto investors not paying capital gains tax.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that cryptocurrency should be used to Strengthen democracy and doesn't undermine it. He urged Democratic countries to work together to ensure that cryptocurrencies do not fall into the wrong hands. Last week was his Twitter account chopped and a tweet was posted saying that India has made Bitcoin legal tender and the government has bought it BTC distributed to the residents.

What do you think about India once again failing to introduce a crypto bill in Parliament? And what do you think of Garg's comments? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

Kevin, an Austrian economics student, found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, and the interface between economics and cryptography.

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