Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has constituted an Inter-Disciplinary Committee chaired by Special secretary (Economic Affairs) and representatives from Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Financial Services, Department of Revenue (CBDT), Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India, NITI Aayog and State Bank of India on 15th March, 2017.
The Committee will
(i) take stock of the present status of Virtual Currencies both in India and globally;
(ii) examine the existing global regulatory and legal structures governing Virtual Currencies;
(iii) suggest measures for dealing with such Virtual Currencies including issues relating to consumer protection, money laundering, etc; and
(iv) examine any other matter related to Virtual Currencies which may be relevant.
Comments/suggestions from the members of public are requested on the following questions by 31th May, 2017 on the website: MyGov.in.
In particular, the following queries have been raised.
a) Whether Virtual Currencies (VCs) should be banned, regulated or observed?
b) In case VCs are suggested to be regulated:
i). What measures should be taken to ensure consumer protection?
ii). What measures should be taken to promote orderly development of VCs.
iii). Which appropriate institution(s) should monitor/ regulate the VCs?
c). In case VCs are not suggested to be regulated:
i). What should be the effective self-regulatory mechanism?
ii). What measures should be adopted to ensure consumer protection in this scenario?
It is requested that the comments may be supplemented by rationale and brief.
Public are requested to provide their comments in time to enable the Committee to arrive at an appropriate decision.
Naavi.org has published many articles on Bitcoin and also presented its views. Links to all the old articles will be provided for those who want to understand what is a Bitcoin and a “Crypto Currency” or “Virtual Currency” so that we can form an opinion on the same.
Naavi
