India¡¯s Crypto Bill Likely To Be Delayed Till Budget Session of 2022

It seems like the chances of seeing the much anticipated Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 being tabled and passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament are bleak now.

With this session scheduled to be concluded in just a week, i.e. on 23rd December 2021, the latest news doing the rounds as per some top sources, is that the government is expected to defer this bill till the next Budget session of Parliament, i.e. around the period of January last week to March 2022 like previous years.

Another reason expected behind this deferment is that the Parliament may be hesitant in taking up two critical bills- the crypto one and the other lined up one on privatization of public sector banks, in the ongoing winter session that ends in just a week¡¯s time. Both the bills, which were among the list of 26 new pieces of legislation set for introduction in the ongoing Session, are expected to be pushed to the Budget Session.

Also Read: Crypto-assets Can Increase Financial Inclusion, Says Infosys' Nandan Nilekani

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The Background

Earlier last month, the Crypto market was sent into a spiral when the news of a complete ban on private cryptocurrencies went viral. However, gradually as per the developments and disclosures by sources associated with the matter, it became clear that cryptocurrency is expected to come under regulation, instead of being banned.

Another aspect that came to light has been the likely imposition of a deadline and penalty as per the bill. The government might probably give existing crypto holders a deadline of 60 to 90 days within which they need to declare their assets and meet any new rules. Any violators, whether individuals or corporations, could be fined as high as ?20 crores or even imprisoned for 1.5 years if the expected contents of the proposed legislation to regulate crypto are to be believed.

Also Read: WhatsApp Starts Trials For In-App Cryptocurrency Payments In The US

What now?

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The exact contents of the bill would certainly be brought out once it gets tabled and passed in Parliament. Till then, it would be a wait and watch game for everyone who has their eyes set on this Bill.

And despite the growing curiosity surrounding this bill day by day, it seems that the wait for everyone is expected to get longer if the bill gets pushed to the Budget Session of 2022.

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