RBI awaits govt notification to firm up P2P lending norms

“Following up on the consultation paper we did last year, we are shortly going to come up with guidelines on peer to peer lending,” he said here.

The consultation paper on p-2-p lending was released by RBI in April last year, but the final guidelines are yet to come. Sen said a notification from the government is the missing part which is preventing the RBI from releasing the final guidelines. “First, we need the government to notify p-2-p platforms as an entity to be regulated by RBI. That requires a gazette notification. Once that happens, we come out with regulation,” he said. 

Sen added the legislative change for the same has already come in and it is only a gazette notification that is required. A June 29 report quoting top finance ministry sources had said that RBI will come out with the final guidelines in 2-3 weeks. “We have given our comments to the RBI. The guidelines should be out soon. The norms will be out before July-end,” the official had said. He also said the finance ministry has recommended that these platforms be registered as non-banking financial institutions. 

Sen also said the RBI is uncomfortable with “non-fiat” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The fiat cryptocurrency is a digital currency which will be issued by the RBI in place of the physical one at present, he said, adding that the central bank is studying this aspect at present. “Right now, we have a group of people who are looking at fiat cryptocurrencies. Something that is an alternative to the Indian rupee, so to speak. We are looking at that closely,” Sen said. 

The RBI has been repeatedly cautioning everyone about the usage of cryptocurrencies, flagging a slew of concerns.