RBI Denies Any Knowledge Of Cryptocurrency Draft Bill
In a reply given to Blockchain lawyer’s founder, Varun Sethi under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, India’s Central Bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it has no information regarding the cryptocurrency bill being on the anvil. The central bank also said that it doesn’t support the viewpoint of a complete ban on the cryptocurrencies, which is quite the opposite to what it has been unofficially circulated among media houses and news outlets.
RTI filings and replies
Varun filed RTI on 7th of May following the publication of an article in The Economic Times regarding the draft bill related to the cryptocurrency in the country. In the article, the writer has cited an anonymous government source and said that the country is soon going to have a fully scripted cryptocurrency bill and the inter-ministerial government panel made in this regard has suggested putting a blanket ban on the digital assets in the country. This report was published on April 26, following which the team at Blockchain lawyer has decided to file queries under the RTI.
RTI asked a number of questions to RBI, including the role of RBI in drafting the proposed cryptocurrency bill. However, much of the surprise of the team, RBI feigned ignorance about any such development about the proposed bill. The Central Bank also said that it had never said or opined in favor of a complete ban on the cryptocurrency in the country. What is even most surprising is the fact that RBI in it its reply said that it had received no formal communication from the Government of India in this particular matter of digital currencies. The bank father went on to claim that it had never held any meeting with Central Government nor with its internal stakeholders regarding the proposed draft on the cryptocurrency.
Reacting to the reply of the Central Bank, Sethi said that it is extremely surprising that RBI hasn’t got any kind of draft bill on the cryptocurrencies. Being the Central Bank of the country and an important stakeholder in the overall monetary process, RBI should have been involved in the proposed cryptocurrency legislation and reformative procedure that government is mulling on to undertake on the front of digital assets. Even the experts and analysts are of the viewpoint that all stakeholders should be involved or consulted, and RBI should definitely be part of these important consultations and deliberations.
Inter-ministerial Panel
The report published on The Economic Times also said that many government departments are involved in drafting the cryptocurrency regulation bill and just a week ago, the confirmation in this regard has come from none other than Subhash Chandra Garg who is heading the inter-ministerial panel constituted for drafting cryptocurrency bill. It is also to be noted that India is going to participate in the upcoming G20 summit in which among others the issue of cryptocurrencies and their regulations are going to take center stage of the discussion among the countries.
