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Bitcoin operators shut shops in India amid RBI warning

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Bitcoin operators shut shops in India amid RBI warning
Bitcoin operators shut shops in India amid RBI warning

A number of bitcoin operators in India have begun suspending their business following RBI’s warning against use of such virtual currencies due to potential money laundering and cyber security risks.

While RBI is yet to come out with a clear regulatory framework for bitcoins, which have been gaining currency across the world over the past few months, it has issued an advisory cautioning general public against use of bitcoins and other virtual currencies.

Within days of this advisory issued on December 24, a number of entities offering bitcoin services have suspended their operations, temporarily or indefinitely, while websites of a few others have gone down.

However, some other entities continue to run their operations of offering bitcoin exchange services for rupee and other currencies.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be generated through complex computer software systems with solutions shared on a network, although the process is complex and such ’mining’ can be done only on very powerful servers.

Hardly three years into existence, bitcoin has already become the world’s most expensive currency and its per unit value soared past $1,000 level or about Rs. 63,000 recently, although the prices have now slipped below Rs. 50,000 level.

There was a phenomenal surge in the exchange rate for bitcoin from little over $200 to well past $1,000 during November, but there has been an extreme volatility since then and the RBI’s warning has further added to its woes in India.

One of the bitcoin operators in India, buysellbitco.in, has posted its website, “Post the RBI circular, we are suspending buy and sell operations until we can outline a clearer framework with which to work. This is being done to protect the interest of our customers and in no way is a reflection of Bitcoin’s true potential or price,” it said.

Another entity, INRBTC also said that “in light of RBI’s notice, services of INRBTC.com are being suspended indefinitely”.

Explaining its decision, INRBTC said that RBI has stated that users of virtual currencies are exposed to both legal and financial risks.

“Further it (RBI) states that absence of information of counterparties could subject the users to unintentional breaches of Anti-Money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws,” it added.

“The only option left now is suspend the services until further arrangements can be made,” INRBTC said, while adding that all trades which have been executed till December 26, 2013 will be processed completely.

“All pending orders will be cancelled and the deposits on those orders will be refunded 100 per cent to the users,” it said.

Many other websites offering bitcoin services in India have gone down, although a few continue to operate as of now despite increasing regulatory glare on bitcoins globally.

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In a move that is likely to have a spiralling impact on the cost of travel for the common man, public transport and other related areas, Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) on Thursday announced a steep hike of Rs. 4.50 paise per Kg in the price of compressed natural gas (CNG), the second successive hike in three months. In a related move that could hurt the household budgets, IGL also hiked the price of cooking piped gas to kitchens by Rs. 5.15 per Kg with effect from Thursday midnight. Under the new pricing regime, CNG will cost Rs. 50.10 per Kg in Delhi and Rs. 56.70 per Kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, IGL said in a statement in New Delhi. The price of piped natural gas (PNG) to the households in Delhi is being revised from Rs. 27.50 per standard cubic metre to Rs. 29.50 per scm up to consumption of 30 scm in two months. Beyond consumption of 30 scm in two months, the applicable rate in Delhi would be Rs. 52 per scm. Due to differential tax structure in Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs. 31 per scm up to consumption of 30 scm in two months, which has been increased from existing Rs. 29 per scm. Beyond consumption of 30 scm in two months, the rate applicable in these cities would be Rs. 54 per scm. CNG price was last revised in September when it was hiked by a hefty Rs. 3.70 per kg. Price of CNG sold to automobiles in Delhi then increased from Rs. 41.90 to Rs. 45.60 per kg. Also at that time, the price of piped cooking gas, called PNG, for households has been hiked from Rs. 24.50 per scm to Rs. 27.50 per scm. The statement said the increase was primarily due to increase in input cost as a result of reallocation of domestically produced gas quantities by the government for all city gas distribution companies across the country. “There has been a reduction in allocation of APM gas to us, which is forcing us to source more quantity of market priced imported R-LNG, whose prices are currently on an upswing. This has affected our overall input cost by over 13 per cent. There has also been an increase in the operating expenses including increase in minimum wages announced by the government with effect from October 2013,” the statement added. Government reallocated domestic gas allocations to all city gas distribution companies across the country as a fall out of a recent court order. All the earlier gas allocations had been cancelled and the revised allocations now also include PMT gas, which is priced higher than APM gas. “In terms of volume, there has been nearly 5 per cent decrease in the overall quantity of domestic gas allocated to IGL for Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The reduction in allocation as well as increase in demand is forcing IGL to source much higher priced imported R-LNG. The prices of R-LNG have been on the rise recently and therefore, new R-LNG quantities are available in the market at much higher prices than the existing ones,” the company said. However, the company said the increase would not have a major impact on the per km running cost of vehicles. For autos, the increase would be 13 paise per km, for taxi it would be 22 paisa per Km and in case of buses, the increase would be Rs. 1.30 per km, which translates to just over two paisa per passenger-kilometre.

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