In Brief:
- Delhi HC issues notice to RBI, NCPI, SBI and others over prohibiting UPI payments in Crypto Exchanges.
- The issue, on the basis of a petition, asks the respondents to revoke the decision of prohibiting UPI Payments in the crypto exchanges.
- The plea alleged that SBI has violated SC Judgement, and notifications by RBI, NCPI.
On Thursday, The Delhi High Court issued notice to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), State Bank of India (SBI) and others to revoke the ban on the use of the UPI in crypto exchange.
As per Bar&Bench reports, The notice was issued on the basis of a petition seeking instructions to respondents to take effective measures and retract the decision of prohibiting UPI Payments in the crypto-exchanges.
The plea alleged that SBI blocking the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) Services for the WazirX (leading cryptocurrency exchange) users violated the Supreme Court Judgment of March 4, 2020. It was during the legal hearing of Internet And Mobile Association vs Reserve Bank Of India. The plea also argued that SBI also violated RBI circular dated May 31, 2021 and other notifications by NPCI.
A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued intimation to SBI, RBI, National Payments Corporation of India, and the Department of Financial Services asking them to reply to the petition.
The petitioner Arnav Gulati, a law student explained that “The SBI has blocked and restricted the users and merchants to use the UPI deposits option on the crypto exchanges thereby leaving the users with no option but to use the other payment deposit options which takes more time to get completed and extra charges like convenience fees, GST charges or service charges are charged, which makes it difficult for the retail investors and users to get the funds on time.”
The suit also mentions the Supreme Court overruling a 2018 decision by RBI that prohibits all the banks to deal with any virtual currency or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in further dealing with Bitcoins.
The overruling by SC in March 2020, stated that RBI must allow the banking entities to utilise their funds in dealing with Virtual Currencies and struck down the questionable circular.
On top of this, earlier this year, the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) resolved to not ban the UPI transfer system dealing with Cryptocurrency exchanges.
Interestingly, in July, the Delhi High Court in India had issued notices for standardized disclaimer on cryptocurrency advertisements. Thus, keeping crypto-fanatics in India seated on the fence!
