IAMAI Hails 'Industry Friendly' Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has lauded the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, terming it industry-friendly.

"It has struck the right balance between protecting the interests of the data principals while leaving enough room for tech start-ups to innovate and grow," the industry body said in a statement on Monday.

Three months after the withdrawal of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill from the Lower House of the Parliament, the central government in November 2022 came up with a new draft Bill seeking views from the public.

The data protection framework in the Draft Bill to balance innovation and economic growth with the interests of users will go a long way to assuage concerns of digital businesses and help make India a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2025, the statement said, citing feedback received from the majority of its member associations.

"By following a deep and wide process of consultation including that of a joint parliamentary committee, excluding non-essential provisions, by making a clear commitment that no Rules exceeding the provisions of the Act would be made, and yet protecting the interests of the state, citizens and the digital economy, this Bill has possibly set up new standards of law-making," said Subho Ray, president of Internet and Mobile Association of India, in the statement.

However, it said there remain 'ambiguities' surrounding the timelines for implementing the various provisions of the Bill and mechanisms for obtaining verifiable parental consent to process the personal data of children.

"As the inclusion of specific timelines will provide a roadmap for the industry to better comply with the Bill, IAMAI has requested the government to clearly indicate reasonable timelines by which the various provisions of the DPDP will be implemented and to adopt a graded approach to prescribing such timelines. IAMAI has also urged the government to consider a flexible approach to obtaining parental consent, as prescriptive mandates may have an adverse cascading impact on sectors that provide services to younger individuals." the IAMAI's statement said, adding that it is confident the final version of the law will help stakeholders in the digital ecosystem of India.