Digital India Act FAQs

• Jurisdiction: India
• Law Firm: EY
• Subject Matter: Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, IT and Internet, Gaming
• Author: Ms Versha Goenka, Kayomarz D. Daver, Prathamesh Joshi and Snehal Bhanuse
• Published date: 24 April 2023

SYNOPSIS

Digital India Act Consultation

On 9th March 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ('MeitY') consulted upon the Digital India Act, 2023, during the Digital India Dialogues held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The Digital India Act is an attempt to standardize and bring uniformity in the Indian technology laws. The current regulatory framework consists of various different rules and guidelines read with the Information Technology Act, 2000. The current framework has a scope of undergoing further updates pertaining to the recent advances and upcoming trends in the market. The Digital India Act aims to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework and bring the Indian law at par with the global standards.

The new framework will also consist of Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Digital India Act Rules, National Data Governance Policy, and IPC Amendments for Cyber Crimes.

Timeline

The consultation on Digital India Act, 2023 took place on 9th March 2023, however there is no clear date mentioned on when the bill will be introduced in the Parliament.

These FAQs attempt to simplify the contents of the consultation and enunciate applicability and future course of action.

FAQs

Q. What is the current regulatory landscape of digital laws?

A. The current regulatory landscape of digital laws consists of:

• Information Technology Act, 2000
• IT (Amendment) Act, 2008
• Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules 2011
• Establishment of Grievance Appellate Committees under Rule 3A of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
• Direction No. 20(3)/2022-CERT-In Consumer Protection Act, 2019 ('CPA') and Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020
• Information Technology (Certifying Authorities) Rules 2000
• Electronic Signature or Electronic Authentication Technique and Procedure Rules, 2015
• Information Technology (The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and the Manner of Performing Functions and Duties) Rules, 2013 ('CERT-In Rules')
• Information Technology (Procedure and safeguard for Monitoring and Collecting Traffic Data or Information) Rules, 2009
• Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules 2009
• In particular the important notifications include
• • Notification No...