The Cabinet has yet to approve the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
In the forthcoming Winter session of Parliament, which begins on November 29, the administration will present a new Bill to regulate cryptocurrency and purportedly prohibit all private coins, as well as 25 other new laws.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, which has yet to be officially approved by the Cabinet, aims to create a framework that would make it easier for the Reserve Bank of India to develop an official digital currency. The central bank is planning to start a pilot project for a government-backed digital currency in the near future.
"The Bill also aims to make all private cryptocurrencies illegal in India." According to the declared purpose of the Bill in a Lok Sabha bulletin and the tentative list of the government's legislative agenda for the Rajya Sabha, it "allows for specific exclusions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses."
So far, the Bill's particular outlines have not been made public, and no public discussions have taken place. The Finance Ministry has been tight-lipped on the Bill, which was prepared for Cabinet approval in August.Media inquiries on who would be held liable if investors who gamble on crypto assets that are widely publicised lose a lot of money have been met with deafening silence.
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When Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a meeting on November 13 with the top brass of the central bank and the Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance to assess the regulatory prospects for cryptocurrencies, a consensus was reached to end "attempts to mislead the youth through over-promising and non-transparent advertising."
It was also decided that uncontrolled cryptocurrency marketplaces cannot be used for money laundering or terrorist funding. The government recognised that a watchful eye and proactive measures are required for the industry.
When the Standing Committee on Finance met with cryptocurrency stakeholders last Monday, industry officials agreed that the crypto sector needed to be regulated, but they were unable to respond to key issues posed by legislators.
Aside from the proposed cryptocurrency law, the government has also listed a Bill to repeal the three contentious agriculture regulations of 2020, as promised by Prime Minister Modi last Friday, after they sparked a year-long protest from a segment of the farming community.
Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020, and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 are the three legislation in question.
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has also been added to the government's list of bills, with the goal of eliminating all cross-subsidies and requiring all users to pay the true cost of supplies.
Farmers and rural users may end up paying the highest energy prices because the cost of supplies in rural regions is substantially greater than in metropolitan ones.
Several non-BJP state governments have objected to the Bill, which was scheduled in Parliament's Monsoon session but not tabled to prevent more conflict with the Opposition parties over the Pegasus Project disclosures.
Three government-issued ordinances, including revisions to the Central Vigilance Commission Act of 2003, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985, and the statute regulating the Central Bureau of Investigation, will be tabled for review and passage.
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