The Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange has halted support for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for users in India. This was reported by the Economic Times.
UPI — a real-time mobile payments system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to facilitate interbank transactions.
The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and operates by instant transfers between two accounts on a mobile platform.
According to the publication, selecting this method in the exchange’s mobile app triggers the following message:
“Purchases using this payment method are temporarily unavailable.”
On 7 April Coinbase announced its entry into the Indian market. During a presentation, the company’s product director Surodjit Chatterjee called the use of UPI as the first step to buying digital assets on the platform.
On the same day, the operator of the NPCI interface stated that the corporation “is not aware of any cryptocurrency exchange using UPI.”
Statement by NPCI as on 7th April 2022. With reference to some recent media reports around the purchase of Cryptocurrencies using UPI, National Payments Corporation of India would like to clarify that we are not aware of any crypto exchange using UPI. Please see attached document pic.twitter.com/lGTcaSLKeC
— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) April 7, 2022
In a statement by Coinbase, published in Outlook, the company said it aimed to engage with NPCI and other regulators to ensure compliance.
“[…] we are actively experimenting with a range of payment methods and partners so that our clients can buy cryptocurrency without friction,” said representatives of the exchange.
In January 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the development of a unified approach to shaping the regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
Prior to that, Indian authorities sent mixed signals: from a total ban on digital currencies, including criminal liability, to possible regulation as assets.
In April in India they introduced a 30% tax on profits from cryptocurrency transactions and the disputed 1% levy within the framework of TDS. Earlier the Finance Ministry defined that when calculating taxes traders would not be able to offset losses in one digital asset with gains in another.
In February 2022, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warned investors away from investing in cryptocurrency.
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