Finance ministry sets up 8-member committee on fintech for easier norms

The finance ministry has set up an 8-member committee to consider various issues related to Fintech for making regulations more flexible and promoting financial inclusion. The panel headed by Economic Affairs Secretary will also suggest ways to enhance entrepreneurship in the Fintech or financial technology space where India has distinctive comparative strengths vis--vis other emerging economies, the finance ministry said in a statement today. "In pursuance to the announcement made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget Speech 2018-19 (Para 75), a Steering Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance" it said. The Committee will also focus on how Fintech can be leveraged to enhance financial inclusion of MSMEs, it said. The other members of the high level committee would include, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary, Financial Services Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Secretary, Chairperson Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Besides, the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India and Deputy Governor of RBI would be part of this panel. Joint Secretary (Investment) in Economic Affairs Department would be the convener of the panel which may also invite participants from the private sector. The statement further said the panel would take stock of the developments in the Fintech sector globally, and in India, and arrive at a common shared understanding of the current state of play and to promote ease of doing business in the sector. It would also analyse critically the regulatory regime spread over different entities that has impacted the growth of Fintech in India and also consider international cooperation opportunities in the space with countries like Singapore, UK, China, etc. The panel will consider how Fintech can be leveraged in critical sectors of the economy, especially financing of MSMEs, affordable housing, delivery of e-services to vulnerable sections, provision of land record management and other government services, access and adoption of digital payments, and to study the developments in these areas. As per the terms of reference, the committee "will develop regulatory interventions, e.g., regulatory sandbox model, that will enhance the role of Fintech in the sectors identified for focused interventions." It will also consider means of using data with GSTN and data residing with information utilities such as Credit Information Companies (CICs) in open domain with a view to developing applications for financing of MSMEs, it said. It will work with government agencies like UIDAI to explore creation and use of unique enterprise identification number, it added.