The Indian government is edging closer to a final decision on how cryptocurrencies will be regulated after a panel set up to draft the rules confirmed that the document should be ready by next month.
According to the local news agency, QuartzIndia, the Narendra Modi government has submitted a counter-affidavit to the Indian Supreme court which is currently hearing a case between cryptocurrency exchange owners and the Indian government.
The group of exchange owners is accusing the government and its Central bank (RBI) of choking the crypto ecosystem by ordering all banks in the country to stop dealing with them.
In an earlier court hearing on Oct 25, the Supreme Court ordered the government and the Reserve Bank of India to submit a counter-affidavit that will clear up their policy on cryptocurrencies.
India Government and RBI Clearing Things Up
The now submitted affidavit, states that: “currently, serious efforts are going on for preparation of the draft report and the draft bill on virtual currencies, use of distributed ledger technology in (the) financial system and framework for digital currency in India.”
The draft report is expected to reach the desk of the India Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) by the end of next month while two meetings will be held to deliberate on the report. The head of the Committee, Subhash Chandra Garg, also suggested a March 2019 target for the release of the draft regulations for the Indian crypto industry.
A big question would be whether the draft rules will be favorable or unfavorable for the industry when it is finally released.
Meanwhile, the case between the Indian government, RBI, and crypto exchange operators in India will likely drag on until the regulatory uncertainty is cleared up. As per the report, the next court hearing is on November 20.
