DPDP Act: MeitY appoints key official for setting up Data Protection Board

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed by both houses of the government and it became a law in August 2023

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on September 20 appointed Sanket S Bhondve, an IAS officer currently working as a joint secretary in the ministry as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for setting up the Data Protection Board under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State in MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government will be notifying the Data Protection Board (DPB) within 30 days.

Even though the DPDP Act has been passed into a law, it has not been enforced yet. In the coming days, apart from notifying the DPB, the government will also come out with rules that will operationalise the law, and come out with graded timelines for data fiduciaries for complying with the legislation.

Also read: What the Digital Personal Data Protection Act means for you

According to an office order by MeitY, Bhondve who works as a joint secretary in the DigiGov wing of MeitY, will work with Cyber Laws and Data Governance Division of the ministry for setting up the DPB.

Bhondve before being promoted to Meity in July 2023, was working as private secretary to Minister of Road Transport and Highway.

The Data Protection Board will be the nodal body responsible for enforcing the DPDP Act, and more importantly it will also be tasked for taking action against data fiduciaries in regards to non-compliance with the Act or in events of data breaches.

Also read: Data Protection Board will not be a regulator like RBI or Sebi, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The chairperson and members of the DPB will be appointed by the central government. The government was also recently criticised for empowering the DPB with powers to ask the central government to take down content.