Indian parliament agenda includes training session on crypto, omits bill banning digital assets

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The latest bulletin covering the agenda of India’s lower house of parliament includes “a conference on understanding cryptocurrency” and its economic impact.

According to a Monday publication from the Lok Sabha, the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute group for Democracies in Government held a training evening for lawmakers on Wednesday regarding crypto and its effects on the Indian economy. Moreover, the legislative business calendar of the lower house of parliament no longer includes a bill that could ban crypto in the country.

Excerpt from the January 31 post of Lok Sabha

The Cryptocurrency and Official Digital Currency Regulation Bill does not appear as one of 15 bills the government body will consider when it meets for its budget session. Previously published bill texts propose to ban “all private cryptocurrencies” in India, except for assets aimed at promoting “the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses”.

The proposed legislation has repeatedly appeared on the country’s parliamentary agenda since India’s Supreme Court overturned a 2020 blanket crypto ban that was imposed by the central bank. The Reserve Bank of India may also be moving forward soon with trials of a central bank digital currency – a digital rupee – but at press time officials have not announced a trial for the CBDC.

Related: India to Regulate, Not Ban, Crypto: Cabinet Papers

Multiple local media reports have suggested that some Indian lawmakers are looking for different legislative avenues to manage the growing crypto market, ranging from proposing projects not legally allowed to operate in the country to different taxation of crypto revenue. In October, Finance Ministry officials reportedly considered putting in place a legal framework that could treat crypto more like a commodity than a currency.

The budget session officially kicked off on Monday, with the two houses of India’s parliament planning to take turns meeting to tackle the spread of COVID-19. The session is expected to last until May.

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