Crypto India: Delhi HC issues notice to resume UPI payments on crypto exchange platforms

The latest update for cryptocurrencies in India has brought a ray of hope for the decentralized industry, as the Delhi High Court issued a notice about restarting the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services on crypto exchange platforms. The notice was written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), State Bank of India (SBI), and others referring to a petition seeking direction from the mentioned respondents, which further appealed to nullify the former decision of suspending UPI Payments on crypto exchanges. The Thursday’s Bench comprised of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh, who pursued the respondents to submit their responses before the next hearing on December 24, 2021.

The petitioner Arnav Gulati, a law student through Advocate Siddharth Acharya and Advocate Simarjeet Singh Satia stated that “in March 2020, Supreme Court in the case of Internet and Mobile Association of India vs Reserve Bank of India passed the final order stating that RBI must allow the banking entities to allow the utilization of their funds in dealing with Virtual Currencies and struck down the impugned circular. And in May 2021, the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) clarifies that it shall not ban the UPI transfer system for dealing with Cryptocurrency exchanges”.

UPI services suspended on WazirX

According to the plea, SBI’s decision to prohibit UPI services on India’s crypto exchange giant, WazirX has allegedly violated the Supreme Court Judgment of Internet and Mobile Association vs Reserve Bank of India on March 4, 2020, RBI circular dated May 31, 2021, and other notifications by NPCI, which ascertained that NPCI is not allowed to ban or restrict cryptocurrency transactions. Furthermore, the plea also highlighted user inconvenience in lieu of having to pay additional charges, along with waiting for long periods to complete transactions through other payment options offered by the exchanges.

“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.”