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This is the personal view of an honest citizen and is not related to any professional or organizational activities. Also I do hold Mr Modi, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman in great respect but in respect of this issue of legitimizing Crypto Currencies through back door, I donot hesitate to call them out as not being honest in their efforts. The country is more important than the individuals and some body should call out the fakery being indulged by the Finance Ministry for whatever legitimate reasons which makes even Mr Modi to remain in support.

Naavi

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To

Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman
Honourable Finance Minister of India
Delhi

Madam Finance Minister,

I am sure you would not like what I want to say. But let me make it clear that we the honest tax payers of the country also do not like what you are doing in connection with the legalization of Crypto Currencies.

In your budget speech and even in some of your interviews you made the “Typical UP ran away MP” kind of statements  denying that you are not recognizing Crypto Currencies by introducing a tax of 30% and TDS. You stated that these are related to “Digital Assets” and not “Crypto Currencies”.

I am not sure you are so naïve as not being able to understand the impact you have created in terms of the perception of the market on legitimization of Crypto currencies. I tried earlier to credit you by saying that “You have been tricked” by the industry. But on second thoughts it appears that you have been trying to trick the public with your false statements. You have deliberately and not so cleverly tried to be the torch bearer of Crypto Currencies in India and for destroying the economic system as we know of.

I add that I have also been disappointed with Mr Narendra Modi  and at this point of time, I would say that he has not been allowed to understand the real impact of what you have done.

I am sure that your subordinates must have given you an estimate that there are 15-20 million crypto investors and all of them will come to your tax net and 30% of annual appreciation could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars etc…. This could have blinded many into believing that what you are doing is good.

You know and I know and all honest tax payers know that if you create any loophole for tax evasion, the market is intelligent enough to exploit it. At the end of the year you would realize that Crypto currency prices are booming but your tax collection would be shrinking. mark my word and let us review this after April 2023 and see whether my prediction would be correct.

I suppose you are watching the debates on the TV as well as the articles in news papers.

The  Reuters report says

“India to tax cryptocurrencies at 30%, puts digital assets in highest tax band”

Does this say that Crypto Currencies are not recognized or that Bitcoin etc is not a Crypto Currency but only a “Digital Asset” as you term it?… No because this is the perception of every body other than you and your false propaganda machine.

Listen to what the industry says…

“Thirty percent tax on income from virtual digital assets, while high, is a positive step as it legitimises crypto and hints at an optimistic sentiment towards further acceptance of crypto and NFTs,” said Avinash Shekhar, chief executive of ZebPay, a cryptocurrency exchange.

The report also says “Crypto exchanges also hoped the the new tax regime would signal acceptance of digital currencies by the authorities, and reassure corporates that they can enter the market.”

Can you see how happy the industry is for your legitimisation of Crypto currencies? Do any of these people think Crypto currencies are still illegal?

The report also gives credit to your statement “The introduction of a central bank digital currency will give a big boost to the digital economy. Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system,”  which is another false bogey you are spreading.

The Economic Times which is the mouthpiece of the Crypto industry says ” Crypto Industry celebrates breakthrough moment..”

In another article in ET, Experts are quoted as statitng

“For years, there have been reports of an imminent ban on private cryptocurrencies in India but today’s announcement closed that chapter, crypto industry stakeholders, including founders, venture capitalists and policy experts, told ET.”

The Finance secretary is also quoted as saying

“ cryptocurrencies will remain legal in India as long as there is no blanket ban.”

Are you such an ill informed person not to see that your move is only seen as legitimization of the Crypto Currencies and nothing else. So far it was only the gullible individuals who were attracted to this form of investment but now you have opened it out to the corporate entities.

I am sure that your election machinery would also welcome the move since they can attract black money contributions to your party’s election fund.

In case you donot understand, let me re-iterate,

Once you start allowing Crypto currencies to be represented as “Assets” in the official tax records of either an individual or a company, you are legitimizing their presence as a class of assets.  This is the view of all experts and it will be also the view of all sane persons. You and your team may be trying to spread disinformation in the public that “Taxing” is not “Legitimization” but this is a fraud you are trying to commit to convince the public that you are not supporting the development and use of digital black money which is also the currency of the criminals and terrorists.

The CBDT digital currency is another canard you are spreading as if it is a great boost to the economy. It only allows you to issue currencies at will and though it is considered traceable, it is subject to its own risk of anonymization and duplication. The cost of duplication of digital currency is much less than duplication of printed currency. Hence the problem of fake currency will continue in a different form. Since it will be traceable, it will not carry any premium and it will be nothing different from the virtual bank balances.

Public are not fools to believe whatever you may say to justify your support to crypto currencies.

The individuals who will purchase Crypto currencies through the exchange will not be TDS deduction entities and hence no TDS will be collected by them. Only corporates may be liable to deduct TDS.

The liability to pay tax arises only at the time of its sale at a profit. If the asset is not sold or sold at a loss, then there is no tax payable and TDS can be recovered.

I need not say how the stocks can be liquidated at a loss whenever an opportunity arises and shown as rebought at a higher amount by creating a benami wallet account in a foreign country.

You will therefore not get the expected tax revenue and only the tax consultants will benefit by the various schemes they may introduce for such “Crypto Tax Avoidance Schemes”.

The Crypto exchanges will provide easy opportunity to transfer the Crypto assets in India to a foreign wallet and ensure that money gets transferred out of India without the CBDT or ED coming to know.

Exporters will start invoicing in cryptos and park their money abroad and this will show as “Decrease in Exports” and lowering of GDP in the coming days.

Bankers will find that the virtual rupee balances will get slowly converted into crypto assets and they will be left to handle only the lower end customers who will Bank for the same of loans and not for savings.

In your budget we note that there is no incentive for savings and this is another ploy to move the community of savers from Bank deposits to Crypto currencies.

Together you have implemented a devious plan to destroy the Banking system in India.

If you disagree with my statements, Please feel free to write to me at naavi9@gmail.com  and justify that your intentions were honest.

Na.Vijayashankar

37, 20th main, BSK first Stage, Bangalore 560050

The decision of the Finance Minister to recognize digital assets of the kind which we call “Crypto Currencies” today through a taxation slab has opened the flood gates for money laundering in India.

Now it is possible to register an anonymous e-mail account such as Proton Mail, outside the scope of law enforcement in India, open a Bitcoin (or any other multi crypto currency) wallet account with a foreign entity and operate with any of the crypto currencies. No KYC would be needed.

Money can be loaded to to such accounts through ATMs available in some foreign countries or through the RIPPLE network.  As a result the exports can be under invoiced and excess money credited to the wallet account.

The Indian Government may only have the ability to trace a transaction when money is transferred from the INR Bank account to a wallet account in India or sold from these accounts. If the sale is to the foreign Wallet at a loss or “No profit”, there will be  no tax in India and the money will lie in the foreign wallet which is anonymous to the Indian tax authorities.  There is no havala agent required for the purpose.

The budgetary provisions which talks of “Taxing at 30%” is a fraud on the public. The tax will arise only when the holding is declared at the end of the year and it will not affect any transactions which are not declared or traced by the ED/ITD.

Already demands are being raised for reduction of the 30% slab and the Finance Ministry will consider it after some time to ensure that the tax burden is reduced.

As we gradually move from the current Central bank regulated economy to “Ripple regulated” economy, the funds in the banking system will dry out. With  the bank deposits declining, investments in Government securities will also come down and Government will have no genuine means of revenue generation for all its “Vote Buying Schemes”.

It is however good that the Government will have its own Digital Rupee scheme and at the click of a button generate enough Crypto Rupees that can be credited to every Jan Dhan account. At last the Rs 15 lakh per account promise can be fulfilled through Digital Rupee being credited.

As the Economy starts skating on the Digital Rupees created and distributed for all Government expenditure, tax payers will shift their assets to foreign countries in the  Ripple Economy and RBI as well as Banks can think of closing down their business.

The vision of economic progress and 5 trillion economy can vanish with this one stroke of pen with which Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman has legitimized the private cryptos.

We can only wish and pray that the FM will re-think on her suggestion with a Clear thinking on the consequences that could arise out of her decision to give legitimacy to the Private Cryptos.

I wish the FM and the Finance Secretary disprove the above doomsday predictions and assure us that they have not been fooled by the technology enthusiasts who think it is “Innovation” to “Destroy” the world order. If they donot wake up, history will recognize this budget as the beginning of the end of civilized Governance in India.

No opposition member will raise objection since all politicians are happy with this arrangement where black money is available for free use for terrorism or election expenditure. Supreme Court  will not raise any objection because it has already shown its “Bollywood Concern” . RBI has been effectively silenced. The path is clear for the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats to enjoy  the emerging situation. The bribe menu is being updated to the crypto currency shortly so that even bribe giving becomes easy. Even Arnab Goswami will remain silent since Crypto contributions will help the media business.

All genuine tax payers need to re-think if they have to keep their money in the Bank accounts or start shifting it to digital assets. They can always export this balance and re-import when necessary. I am sure such services would be made available by many of the crypto exchanges so that we can all enjoy a tax free society. We need to take the advice of wisemen.. If you cannot eliminate Cryptos…join the band wagon and enjoy a tax less society.

RSS raised alarm but the Government has ignored the objections from RSS. Opposition can take note that this Government is not an RSS Government but has a mind of its own when it comes to corruption management.

Dear Mr Modi,… I am disappointed with your endorsement of the scheme. Let God give you the vision to understand the danger of encouraging Crypto Asset legitimization.

Naavi

After a long time discussion, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman came up with her suggestion in the Budget about taxation of “Crypto Assets”.

At first glance it appears that this provision imposes a 30% tax on gains made in crypto assets which may include the Bitcoins as well as the Meta Verse assets, the Virtual Taj Mahal, etc. Since the loss cannot be off set with other income, the 30% tax will be a serious disincentive for acquiring virtual assets.

So far so good.

However, it is also true that the “Lure for tax collection” has corrupted the minds of the Finance Minister to provide legitimacy to the Crypto assets. What is taxed today at 30% can always be changed to 10% or declared as normal business income to be available for aggregation with other income and expenditure. The Crypto Criminals will be only too happy to wait for one more year in the next budget to ask for reduction of the tax rates.

I therefore consider that the move of taxing Crypto Assets is not a proper solution to prevent the destruction of the society by development of Crypto assets. The taxation could have been used only as a one time instrument to ensure an exit route for ordinary investors when the Crypto assets are banned.

I want to challenge the Finance Minister why she cannot tax holding of “Drugs” and “Weapons” as an investment so that the Government can earn revenue.

Please remember that now it is possible to develop a derivative of a “Drug Crypto” or a “Weapon Crypto” where the investor will hold only the Digital Asset while a syndicate will use the funds raised to create an asset foundation in drugs or weapons.

“Innovators” can create “Digital Asset class” of “Weapons of mass destruction”, “Bio Weapons”, “Addictive ecstatic drugs” and so on.

Government of India would be happy to collect GST and IT from traders and investors while the proceeds of these assets go to break India into pieces.

I therefore seriously object to the new provision and demand that the “Banning of Private Crypto Assets” Bill is introduced immediately.

Naavi

Communication is an essential skill for all professionals and more so if one is in a senior position and has to discharge conflicting responsibilities.

The Data Protection Officer is one such professional who requires a high level of communication skill since he/she has to discharge multiple types of responsibilities such as

1. Dealing with employees below his/her cadre and advising on the legal aspects of data protection, querying on the operational aspects that may interfere with the legal requirements, making investigations etc,
2. Dealing with employees who are peers or even superiors and discussing business strategies that may interfere with the legal requirements or suggesting implementation of policies and procedures that may cause disruption in other official relations.
3. Dealing with the public (data subjects/Principals) who have complaints to be resolved.
4. Dealing with the regulatory agencies who may have the authority to impose penalties on the organization and seek cooperation and assistance of the DPO in conducting inspections where the depositions often lead to penalties against the company.

If the DPO does not handle communication effectively with the data principals it could result in a data principal getting angry and escalating the compliant to the regulatory authorities. If the DPO does not handle the communication effectively with the regulatory agencies, it may result in penalties on the organization and the company may find fault with the DPO for his inefficient handling.  If the DPO does not handle communication properly with subordinate employees, they may turn rogue and send out anonymous complaints to the regulatory authorities. If he does not handle the communication with the peers and superiors properly his job may be at stake.

Thus the DPO faces multiple challenges in communication where the strategy to be used may have to be different based on the context and the target of the communication. What is good for peers is not necessarily good for subordinates or outsiders or regulators.

At one place it may need “Tact” which can be construed as “Fraud” in another instance. At one place what is considered as “Confidence” may be treated elsewhere as “Arrogance”.

Thus “Effective communication” requires first the assessment of the situation, assessment of the parties involved, consequences of mis-communication and strategies to correct and track back when required.

Flexibility Vs Firmness

“Flexibility” in putting across one’s views is therefore one of the requirements of effective communication. However, “Flexibility” has to be balanced with “Firmness” where ever it is required and balancing the two would be one of the challenges. “An effective leader” knows when to be firm and when to be lenient and compassionate.

One of the requirements of leadership is to ensure that there is a spirit of “Cooperation” with the colleagues which can come from development of a “Superordinate goal” where each person accepts the common goal and understands his own role there in. In driving a train, the engine driver as well as the guard in the rear cabin both have a role to play and neither is superior or inferior if the superordinate goal is to successfully run the train to its destination. An Aircraft would never fly safely unless the maintenance staff and the  ground staff work with the Pilot.

Verbal Vs Written 

When communicating “Verbally” as against “Written” there is an element of “Voice Modulation” or “Body language” which by itself is an art and every body is not an expert of the same. Hence the base level communication that can be controlled is the written communication where the sender can take care through repeated checks and probably consultation with some body else whether the communication is achieving what it is expected to achieve.

In Oral or direct communication, the communicator is on his own and has to instantly react to the feedback from the target. If the target is an experienced communicator himself, he can easily manipulate the other through his skills which may be dysfunctional to the requirement of the situation.

Further Oral and written communication can be used in combination to achieve the desired result.

The choice of the mode of communication is therefore one of the decisions that needs to be taken by the DPO in vital communications.

Effective Listening

In most of the data principal’s communication, oral communication through a call back and listening to the complaint with  empathy can be an effective way of defusing the anger of the complainant.

But the same strategy will not work with peers or superiors because they may not listen to you nor be patient enough to explain what is their concern. Persistent queries may be construed by them as the DPO over stepping his limits and there may be a natural tendency to shut out exposure  of any of their own inadequacies. Keeping silent may also be construed as not being able to take a decision. Hence in many situations, it is damned if you speak and damned if you donot speak.

If verbal communication is not the strength of the communicator, he should play as per his strength and chose written communication.  Well-articulated and well considered written communication is often better suited for  handling peers, superiors and even the regulators.

Verbal communication in front of others has its own complications since a person may not mind an opposite view when expressed in private but when expressed in the presence of others, it could be rejected and misunderstood. In such cases also, a personal written note would be a better way to communicate since the recipient can ponder over the suggestions without the uncomfortable feeling that others are watching who gave the suggestion and whether it was a criticism of my own view point or  not.

Motivation is the Key

The principles of motivation … what motivates the other person… is it the basic requirements of security, or the requirements of self actualization could be used to design the communication. Getting things done by subordinates can be made through a veiled threat or an incentive. But one cannot motivate the regulator to toe your line by any thing other than nurturing a feeling of empathy and compassion by the regulator with the company or its executives.

Attitude

Similarly the principles of understanding the “Attitude” of persons, the analysis of behavioural aspects such as what triggers an adult to adult behaviour vs parent to child or child to parent behaviour is extremely important. The choice of the lingo, some key words may trigger different types of behaviour in different persons and the ability to wade through this maze is an essential skill of a good communicator.

Thus “Effective Communication” skills for DPO require discussion of multiple aspects  and development  of relevant skills. It is not always possible for a person to be perfect in communication since the recipient of a communication is always at liberty to mis understand you. Hence “Perfect Communication” can be a goal but not always achievable. If we fail occasionally, it is time to learn and move on rather than brooding over the past mistakes.

No Communication

Finally some times, “Not Communicating” is also “Communication” and as long is it is not amounting to “Procrastination” or “Avoidance of decision”, delaying on the spot responses when it is not critical is also an effective way of handling a crisis. But deciding when to speak and when to remain silent or when to write down instead of picking up the phone or walking into the cabin for a discussion is an art of communication.

I welcome a debate on these aspects.

Naavi

When India adopted Information Technology Act 2000 as the law that first recognized electronic documents and also introduced the concept of “Vicarious liabilities/Due Diligence” for organizations, Naavi came up with the concept of “Cyber Law Compliance.

Then when the amendments of 2008 came into effect, Naavi upgraded the concept of Cyber Law Compliance with a specific framework IISF 309 or Indian Information Security Framework so that organizations can have a specific framework to work on compliance.

When the PDPB 2018/2019 were introduced as a bill in the Parliament and sought to replace Section 43A of ITA 2000/8 with a complete act Naavi and FDPPI worked on the concept of PDPSI or the Personal Data Protection Standard of India as a framework for being compliant with PDPB 2019 as an extended due diligence under ITA 2000/8 to be rolled over to the compliance of PDPB 2019 when it became an act.

The JPC however made a surprise modification in the PDPB 2019 by renaming the PDPB 2019 as DPA 2021 and calling it a common law for “Data Protection including Non personal Data protection”. Though ITA 2000/8 will lose only one section namely Section 43A on the passage of DPA 2021 and the rest of the Data Protection aspects continue to be covered by ITA 2000/8 under the supervision of the CERT-In and the Adjudicators, the change of name of the Act as Data Protection Act and introduction of Section 2(d) stating that the Act is applicable also to non personal data brought in a significant difference to the compliance requirements under the Act.

At present though the title has been changed and Section 2(d) has come into reckoning the only operative change is in the reporting of Data Breach under Section 25 where breach of non personal data also has to be reported to the DPAI along with the breach of personal data if any.

Where in a single data breach incident both personal and non personal data is breached, the data fiduciaries and Non personal data processors need to report the breach to the DPAI. The DPAI reserves the right to give any directions to the reporting company/organization on the action to be taken.

So far there is no indication whether the obligations of a data processor under ITA 2000 has been modified in respect of the data breach report to be sent to the CERT IN. It can therefore be presumed that in case of data breach involving both Personal and Non personal Data, report has to be sent to both CERTI In as well as DPAI. Both may come back with their own directions on what the organization needs to do. Probably CERT IN will leave it to the DPAI to provide directions regarding how the data principals need to be informed etc. In the case of non personal data breach, the DPAI may leave it to the CERT In to provide whatever directions it wants to provide. Any other approach will be not in conformity with Section 56 of DPA 2021 according to which CERT IN would be deemed as a “Sectoral Regulator” having concurrent jurisdiction under a law of the Parliament.

While the regulatory agencies would be able to coordinate between themselves, the PDPSI and IISF 309 also need to reconcile as frameworks that could guide organizations for compliance of ITA 2000 and DPA 2021.

PDPSI itself was built on the principle of “Unified Framework” to have a single framework for PDPB 2019 and GDPR or other data protection laws to which an organization is simultaneously exposed to  and hence it is natural to ensure that between IAT 2000 and DPA 2021 also there has to be a “Unification” of compliance requirements.

Some of the other systems of frameworks create multiple frameworks for different instances of requirements of an organization so that there is a greater focus. It also helps in certification so that multiple certification requirements can be created for the security compliance industry. However from the perspective of a compliant organization, trying to get certified for multiple standards all leading to “Information Security” whether it is “Personal Information Security”, “Non Personal Information Security”, whether the system being audited is “ISMS”, “PIMS” or “DPMS”, is a over lap of efforts leading to additional cost and effort with marginal benefit.

FDPPI would therefore like to stick to its principle of a framework for “Compliance of the Data Protection Law”. Earlier PDPSI was meant to certify the PDP-CMS (Personal Data Protection Compliance Management System) and now it has to transform itself as a means of being certified for compliance with the new “Data Protection Compliance Management System”.

Accordingly necessary minor modifications are being made to the  erstwhile PDPSI standards and implementation specifications to accommodate

a) Consent for anonymization

b) Reporting of Data breach of non personal data

and any other measures that the DPAI may include in its future notifications.

Compliance to ITA 2000 will be an extension like the current extension for GDPR, CCPA etc and will be handled with the classification of data into

a) Personal Data under DPA 2021

b) Non Personal Data under DPA 2021

c) Personal Data under GDPR

d) Personal data under CCPA… etc

Having classified data to which DPA 2021 is applicable into two categories, personal and non personal data, the first level compliance will be as per DPA 2021 which will only cover the data breach notification requirement as of now. Where compliance to ITA 2000/8 needs to be assessed, the controls will be interpreted from the requirements of ITA 2000.

 ITA 2000 compliance requirements will  basically revolving around Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of non personal information along with the Section 7A (data integrity audit), Section 3/3A (Authentication) , Sections 69.69A,69B, Sections 65-75 etc.

The Certified PDP CMS auditors have presently been trained in PDPB 2019 compliance and will adopt to DPA 2021 requirements. They have been exposed to ITA 2000 compliance only to a marginal extent. Hence it would be necessary for the PDP CMS auditors to undergo an additional training on ITA 2000/8 compliance requirements.

Measures are being initiated to ensure that this change of PDPSI auditors to DPSI auditors is being worked out.

Naavi