Russia's Ministry of Economic Development has reacted negatively to the bill to ban cash equivalents, including electronic money, such as bitcoins. It said the proposed ban could hit major telecom operators, retailers and banks hard.
The Ministry of Finance has developed a draft law on the introduction of responsibility for handling cash equivalents after President Vladimir Putin's request in March. In the law "On the Central Bank" the Ministry is proposing to define quasi-money as monetary units and objects of property rights not provided for by the law. It would include those in electronic form, used as a means of payment and (or) exchange.
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According to the Ministry of Economic Development, the proposed
definition lacks precision. Basically, any cash equivalents, such
as gift cards and certificates, could be ambiguous, the ministry
said. As a result, Russia's leading retailers, telecom operators
and banks would face serious difficulties with their marketing
campaigns, putting at risk development of loyalty programs to
attract new customers.
The ban, for instance, would hit Sberbank's "Thank you" program
hard. Millions of mobile operator subscribers won't be able to
collect their bonus points either.
The project’s players have spoken strongly against the bill,
including Russia's mobile operator giants MTS and Megafon.
According to the RBK news agency, the National Payments Council
said the Finance Ministry's quasi-money definition will outlaw
bonuses even those of consumers who prefer to pay with plastic
cards. As a result, the move "could throw [Russia's] payment
service market a few years into the past, leading to a fall in
the number of non-cash payments for goods and services."
WebMoney Development Director Peter Darakhvelidze told RBK that
the Ministry of Economic Development was right to highlight the
risks in the bill. Given that Russia may soon suffer from
restriction of access to the global financial system, in
particular to the payment system SWIFT, the government should pay
more attention to financial innovations instead of trying to ban
them, he added.
"The proposed draft regulation act doesn’t solve any tasks
assigned, but only serves to create legal barriers to the
implementation of marketing programs of businesses and business
development in general," Tass quoted the Ministry of
Economic Development as saying.
Adding that many of the draft's provisions introduce excessive
administrative and other restrictions and obligations,
contributing to unreasonable costs, the ministry demanded that
the bill's authors rework the draft.
According to regulations, the Ministry of Finance can either
re-submit the revised bill to the Ministry of Economic
Development, or submit it to the government without changes,
enclosing a table of differences on the project.