Data Protection Bill's Draft Approved by Centre, Rs. 250 Crore Penalty Proposed on Violations

The Union Cabinet has approved draft of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2023 for tabling it in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, an official source said on Wednesday.

The bill proposes to levy penalty of up to Rs. 250 crore on entities for every instance of violation of norms in the bill.

"The Cabinet has approved draft of the DPDP bill. It will be tabled in Parliament in the upcoming session," the source said.

Monsoon session of Parliament will be held from July 20 to August 11.

According to the source, the bill includes almost all the provisions of the last draft that was issued by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for consultation.

The source said government entities have not been granted blanket exemption under the proposed law.

"In case of disputes, Data Protection Board will decide. Citizens will have the right to claim compensation by approaching civil court. There are lot of things that will evolve gradually," the source said.

According to the source, individuals will have the right to seek details about their data collection, storage and processing once the law is implemented.

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has asserted that the upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection Bill will drive "deep behavioural changes" among those platforms in India that have for long exploited or misused personal data. He also sought to allay concerns around the issue of government-appointed fact check body, saying the move is not about censorship at all, rather it gives the Centre an opportunity to clarify and respond to any misinformation related to it, something that is critical in a democracy.

Misinformation, he said, is not to be confused with right to free speech. The minister noted that misinformation tends to travel 10-15 times faster, and reaches an audience 20-50 times more, than truth. He emphasised that it is absolutely critical that in a democracy if someone says something false about the government, to create hatred, to incite violence, or to just create mistrust, "the government must have an opportunity to say no, this is not true".