Most digital/IT related services have survived the negative economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, with a sharp drop in e-commerce and online travel and event booking transactions, the digital payments industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown in the last 2 months. UPI transactions decreased from 1.3 million in December 2019Read more
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The Steering Committee on Fintech Related Issues (‘Committee’), set up by the Ministry of Finance, recently issued its report (‘Report’)[1], in which it takes stock of developments in the fintech space, globally and in India. It makes 45 recommendations to enable fintech, particularly in critical sectors of the economy, and to promote ‘ease of doingRead more
The Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (“PSS Act”)[1] for the first time recognized payments as a different function from a bank’s core functions, such as lending, accepting deposits or managing monetary policy[2]. The Watal Committee Report[3] further explained this difference when it suggested in 2016 that payments must be regulated by a separate, independentRead more
Arnika Thakur’s ‘Fintech: Fast and Furious’ in the June edition of Fortune India is a compelling read if you are interested in the Indian fintech ecosystem. The article examines three broad themes: Banks and fintech entities working together: The article examines the sometimes tenuous relations fintech entities share with banks. We note that increasingly fintech companies manageRead more
What is the document? The Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“Staff”) of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) recently released a Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets (“Framework” or “Document”)[1]. These are essentially guidelines to assess whether an investment into a digital asset (which, per the document includes any asset whichRead more
What was promised? In November 2018, The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) promised to come out with a ‘plain English’ guidance for developers who wished to undertake their own token offerings[1] (‘token’ is used to indicate a cryptocurrency, crypto-asset or a digital asset; these terms are used interchangeably here, strictly for the purposes ofRead more
Comments To The Sebi’s Discussion Paper On Framework For Regulatory Sandbox The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) released its discussion paper on the framework for a regulatory sandbox (“RS”) (“Discussion Paper”) on 28 May 2019. The SEBI’s perceptiveness to the significance of an RS as a regulatory tool is commendable. Its decisionRead more
News has it that Facebook is foraying into online remittances and will introduce a tethered digital asset named “Libra” to fuel this system. Libra will be linked with the INR (i.e. the Indian National Rupee) and each Libra will always convert to 1 INR. How will this play with the April 2018 RBI circular that imposed a deRead more
There has been recent public uproar regarding levying of an extra charge in the name of ‘internet handling fee’ and caught in the midst of it are online digital merchants/service providers like Paytm, Bookmyshow and others. Generally a merchant has to pay a cost (which is linked to the value of sale) to the bankRead more
Introduction With the increasing fanfare around Blockchain technology and the potential it holds for the future, commercial enterprises – Blockchain based and otherwise – are experimenting with paying salaries in cryptocurrency. This initiative broadens the cryptocurrency ecosystem[1] and also helps retain the best tech talent.[2] This post outlines the current cryptocurrency payment ecosystem, industry experienceRead more