How did demonetisation help curb black money, lawmakers ask Home ministry

Rajiv Gauba, who takes over as home secy in August, told to submit govt's responses in two weeks

What has been the impact of demonetisation on the generation of black money which was being used to fund terror, a parliamentary panel has asked the Home ministry.

Rajiv Gauba, who will take over as home secretary in August, has been asked to submit the government's responses in writing in two weeks.

According to sources, members of the parliamentary standing committee on finance wanted to know the impact of demonetisation on curbing black money from the home ministry officials, who briefed the lawmakers on the steps being taken to secure the digital economy.

The issue came up as the government had defended the controversial demonetisation decision by saying it was needed to curb black money, which also helped fund terror attacks planned across the border.

Gauba, who briefed the lawmakers, said that firewalls, software systems meant to prevent digital economy, are still evolving though several institutions have been set up by the government to protect financial sector and banking data from malafide cyber attacks.

The issue of legality of crypto-currency and bitcoins was also raised by some opposition members as Gulshan Rai of the Cert-IN briefed the standing committee on various technical issues related to cyber security. Officials said Rs 1,000 crore are being spent to strengthen cyber security in the country.

Some members also referred to a recent newspaper advertisement issued by a Gujarat-based company.

They said though the size of the digital transactions was low at Rs 2 billion as compared to Rs 54 billion worldwide, it is expected to double up to Rs 4 billion in a few months.

While the relevance of IPC sections in dealing with cyber-crimes came up for discussion during the hearing, officials said the T K Vishwanathan panel looking into the IT Act will submit its interim report next month.

Some members expressed concern that money just evaporates from the bank account in case of a cyber-theft and there was no way to check it.

NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant, who could not appear before the Parliamentary panel, has been asked to come on July 20. Officials of the Nasscom will also brief the standing committee on safety of digital economy on that day, said the sources.