Dear Shri Nilekani : Surveillance may be Inevitable

 

 

Context :

Digital rupee should be anonymous to prevent surveillance, says Nilekani   /  Eco Times  /  09 Feb 2022

Extract :

Nilekani believes that India is “doing the right things” by “recognising the concept of digital assets” and taxing them at 30%. In a way, India has also recognised that crypto assets are not currencies, he added.

“I think the digital rupee should be anonymous because one of the concerns obviously is that if all payment transactions are recorded and visible, it has other issues [such as] surveillance,” Nilekani said.

Nilekani, who has championed the creation of several open technology networks that startups and technology firms leverage for innovation, said the digital rupee architecture will lead to similar innovation at the front end.

“It will be very easy to take the digital rupee to consumers who have a UPI application since it will facilitate easy transactions in digital rupees or help convert digital rupees to regular rupees,” he added.

 

MY  TAKE :

Let us hope that our experts are able to come up with a “digital rupee architecture “ that enables it to remain anonymous

But, for the reason that “ all payment transactions are recorded and visible “, it may not be possible to keep the digital rupee anonymous

That need not necessarily lead to surveillance ( if transaction records are aggregated / anonymized and not disclosed / revealed for any given individual user )

On the other hand, if that architecture helps convert digital rupees to regular rupees ( and vice-versa ? ), then isn’t there a possibility as described in my following earlier e-mail ?

Crypto Rupee : Elephant in the Room ?................... [ 02 Feb 2022 ]

 

Extract :

Apropos PM’s clarification, can CASH ( fiat currency ) be changed to “ Digital Rupee “ ?

If someone takes to her bank, Rs 5 LAKH in cash ( Rs 2000 notes ), will bank change it into “ Digital Rupee “ , ( provided credited into her bank account ), by deducting 30 % as transaction TAX ? 

If yes, all hoarders of BLACK MONEY ( in cash ), would happily convert into WHITE MONEY by paying 30 % !

A kind of AMNESTY SCHEME ? – even if limited to such “ change / conversion “ taking place before March 2024

A nice way to bring lakhs of crores of hidden / unaccounted / tax-evaded CASH into productive use !

 

To this, let me add today :

 

By giving people 2 YEARS time ( a long rope till March 2024 ) to convert all their “ stashed cash ( black money ) “ into Digital Rupee, we can avoid the terrible hardships that people had to suffer during the last exercise of DEMONETIZATION

 

By gradual / phased out CONVERSION ( from cash to digital ), we can eliminate printing of all Currency Notes of Rs 100 and above, in 2 years

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 09 Feb 2022