Govt lists bill to ‘prohibit’ pvt cryptocurrencies, create RBI variant in Parliament session

Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies with 'certain exceptions to promote underlying technology'.

Illuminated application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining devices and power units in a rack at the cryptocurrency mining farm | Representatiional image | Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg

New Delhi: A bill on cryptocurrency, that seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in the country with “certain exceptions”, has been listed for the winter session of Parliament that commences on 29 November.  

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, also seeks “to create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India”. 

According to the Lok Sabha bulletin on the legislative agenda, it is one of 26 bills listed for introduction by the government in the winter session. The others include the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, to withdraw the three contentious farm laws.

The cryptocurrency bill comes amid a growing clamour to regulate the digital currencies, which are not issued by any central bank and have no sovereign backing. 

The bulletin also states the bill “seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India”. “However, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses,” it adds.  

The bill comes in the backdrop of several meetings on the growing popularity of cryptocurrency and the need to regulate it. 

At a parliamentary panel meeting on 15 November, on issues related to cryptofinance, the majority of participating industry experts and MPs spoke against banning cryptocurrency but stressed the need for regulation, MPs who attended the meeting told ThePrint. 

On 13 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a meeting on the digital currency and related issues.

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)