"The recommendation [by JPC] to establish a domestic alternative to the international SWIFT banking system is unprecedented and appears beyond the scope of the Report’s objectives," a dozen international organisations including the US–India Business Council (USIBC), US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), and Business Europe said in a joint letter dated March 1 sent to India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The letter voices concerns about the recommendations made in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Report on the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, which was tabled in the parliament in December last year. The JPC report has already received critical feedback from multiple stakeholders, and now, prominent international organisations, which count Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon as members, have added their concerns to the list. "The [JPC] Report includes new recommendations and novel concepts to the PDP Bill, which, if enacted, would create powerful disincentives for India’s innovation ecosystem and the promise of a trillion-dollar digital economy," the letter stated. MediaNama's Take: Why the opposition to SWIFT alternative comes at an interesting time Among the various concerns, one that stands out is the opposition to the creation of a SWIFT alternative. SWIFT is a payment system widely used by banks across the globe to facilitate international transactions. The JPC, however, recommended that India should develop an alternative to SWIFT to ensure the privacy of Indian citizens and to give a boost to the domestic economy. The international trade organisations objected to this recommendation stating that it is unprecedented and beyond the…
