AAP MP Raghav Chadha suggests tax incentives on bank interest; Tokenisation Bill

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party member Raghav Chadha on Tuesday suggested providing tax incentives on interest income earned from bank savings and introducing a "Tokenisation Bill" to ensure that the people receive big returns through these transformative technological financial innovations.

Participating in a discussion on supplementary demands for grants in the Rajya Sabha, he said the investment in India is highly taxed.

Chadha said a system has been created where long-term investments in the country are being treated as short-term speculation when it comes to taxation.

"This needs to be changed," he said, adding that "patient capital" must be respected and not penalised if India truly wants long-term domestic savings.

Asserting that the country's middle class usually puts its savings in banks -- either in a savings account or fixed deposit (FD), Chadha suggested an increase in tax-free limits "as far as income from bank interest is concerned".

"Secondly, if someone makes an FD for more than five years, then he should be given tax concessions," the AAP's Rajya Sabha member from Punjab said.

He also suggested bringing a Tokenisation Bill in India to enable fractionalised ownership of assets through digital tokens.

Chadha said asset tokenisation is one of the most transformative technological financial innovations of the 21st century, and through it, real estate and infra projects, and commodities, among others, would be divided into small pieces of digital tokens.

"This tradable token can be used by anyone for buying or selling and make profits (out of it)... This means that these big assets will not only be available for billionaires but for the common man of the country who can buy big assets and taste big returns," he said.

Chadha said better returns will be available for the middle class through the proposed legislation.

"In India, there is a need for a bespoke Tokenisation Bill and regulatory sandbox to enable fractionalised ownership of digital tokens using blockchain technology," Chadha added.

He termed the recent reforms in the Goods and Services Tax as "landmark", and said that "without complete pass-through, it remains an incomplete reform".  Chadha said it was important that the pass-through benefit is fully given to the consumers by private companies.

BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Govindbhai Laljibhai Dholakia, said that the supplementary demands for grants (through The Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2025) are not a short-term expenditure, but long-term national capacity building.

"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of India is committed to nation-building and moving forward towards its journey of a developed India," he added. PTI AKV AKV BAL BAL