The administrative rules that will govern the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act are likely to be rolled out soon for the public and stakeholder consideration, said the Minister of I&B, Railways, and MeitY, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Recently, Bhuvnesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information, also told media that the work on the rules has been going on for some time and has reached a particular level and will be released soon for the feedback.
During a media interaction held around the Union Budget, the Minister, Vaishnaw, said that the process of releasing the DPDP rules is already in the ‘advanced stage’.
“In DPDP Act there is an extensive consideration process. Every stakeholder was consulted and heard and the same level of consideration will be held in the rule-making process,” he added.
Despite being announced in August of last year, the Act has not yet taken effect since its rules and regulations are still being finalised.
That apart, in the Union Budget announced by FM Nirmala Sitharaman, MeitY has been allocated Rs 2 crore to meet the establishment and salary expenses of the Data Protection Board in FY25. Under this, Rs 4 lakh is for capex which includes fixed assets such as the digital portal, and Rs 1.96 crore for revenue expenditure.
Read more: Explained: Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023. What does it mean?
The Data Protection Board of India is an adjudicating body which is being set up by the Government of India under section 18 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. It is empowered to direct data fiduciaries to take remedial or mitigation measures in case of personal data breach, or act when a user complains to them.
The Act has been in the works for more than ten years and is India’s first regulation on digital personal data protection. A P Shah, the former chief justice of the Delhi High Court, led a panel of specialists that made their first attempt in 2011.