Indian Finance Ministry Clarifies Status on Cryptocurrency Matters in the Country

The Indian Ministry of Finance has answered some pressing questions about the status of cryptocurrency activities and regulations in the country on Monday. The ministry responded to a series of questions from the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, on some crypto matters. The minister state for the finance ministry revealed that the recommendations in the draft bill proposed by the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) are still under review.

The first question involved “the status of cryptocurrency trading in India.” The Minister of State for Ministry of Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, replied: “This information is not collected by the government.”

Chaudhary’s response correlates with what the finance minister recently noted, which was that the government has no collated data on the number of crypto exchanges or traders in India.

The second question involved “the current regulatory regime surrounding cryptocurrency and its trading.” Chaudhary explained that all organizations under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), have received notices to implement adequate customer due diligence per some regulations, including Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, anti-money laundering (AML) law, Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for overseas remittances.

The minister was then quizzed on the laws in place to protect cryptocurrency traders and investors “from fraud and other misdemeanors in its trading,” to which he responded that:

“Depending upon the nature of the fraud, various laws including the Indian Penal Code 1860, are in place for protection against fraud.”

Indian Government Does Not Recognize Cryptos as Legal Tender

The last three questions involved speculations on “whether the government intends to introduce regulations specific to cryptocurrency trading in India.”

The minister answered these questions saying that:

“The government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system.”

Meanwhile, the minister added that the IMC “recommended in its report that all private cryptocurrencies, except any cryptocurrency issued by the state, be prohibited in India.” The minister noted that:

“The government would take a decision on the recommendations of the IMC, and the legislative proposal, if any, would be introduced in the parliament following due process.”

 

You can purchase crypto coins here: Buy Tokens