Govt to release rules for data protection law soon, aims to notify in January 2024

The Digital Personal Data Protection Law was enacted into a law in August after it was passed in both the houses of the Parliament

The government intends to release the draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Law in the coming days and notify it in January, according to sources. This was conveyed to the industry during a consultation meeting held on December 20, 2023, by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The meeting, chaired by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, discussed the DPDP Law and the upcoming rules that will define the legislation's parameters.

Following the release of the draft rules for consultation, the government plans to allow the industry a week to provide feedback. Subsequently, the rules are expected to be notified in January, as per sources.

Representatives from several US-based companies reportedly requested an extension for the consultation period, citing the coinciding holiday season in other countries.

The discussion, which lasted over an hour at the Shram Shakti Bhavan in New Delhi, was attended by social media platforms such as Meta, Google, and Snap, and representatives from various IT companies.

Key topics covered during the meeting included discussions on the rights of data principals, children's data, consent, notice mechanisms, and other provisions of the DPDP Law, which was passed by Parliament in August.

Furthermore, discussions focused on the mechanism for reporting data breaches. Industry representatives were informed that the yet-to-be-constituted Data Protection Board must be notified first, followed by detailed incident reporting within 72 hours, according to sources.

Moneycontrol has sought responses from Meta, Google, and Snap regarding the matter, and the article will be updated upon receiving their feedback.