The Government of India told the Supreme Court of India that a revised data protection bill will be tabled in Parliament's Winter Session, ANI reports. During a hearing challenging WhatsApp's privacy notice, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court the government is "alive" to India's lack of a privacy framework and a reworked bill is "underway." Supreme Court justices asked Mehta and the government to bring the bill before Parliament to resolve the WhatsApp case or they will move to a fina... Read More

TechCrunch reports Indian Parliament published the draft Telecommunication Bill 2022, which aims to regulate digital communications. The bill allows the government to view all online communications in cases of perceived national security or public safety concerns while giving agencies immunity from potential lawsuits stemming from such intervention. The legislation also addresses spam messages, proposing consent requirements and a "Do Not Disturb" registry. The government opened a public consult... Read More

The Hindustan Times reports Reserve Bank of India deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said the new draft data protection bill should include protections for customer data. He also cautioned that monetization of customer data should offer “some level of consent.” Last month, Indian Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw suggested a new data protection bill could be tabled during Parliament's next budget session in January 2023.Full Story... Read More

The Hindu reports Indian Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw indicated a fresh data protection bill will be published for public comments soon and hopefully be tabled during Indian Parliament's Budget Session in January 2023. Vaishnaw said the bill will reflect modern thinking around data protection, adding that "it should not be like we are trying to create a paper system for a digital world." The upcoming draft may include reported c... Read More

Members of Indian Parliament could exclude provisions for a data protection authority when drafting a fresh data protection bill, the Hindustan Times reports. An official familiar with Parliament's negotiations said many proposed DPA functions "were out of its remit" and dropping the DPA would help "to not overwhelm one authority and increase compliance costs for small companies." The new bill may add a consumer redress mechanism in lieu of a regulator.Full Story... Read More

A Joint Parliamentary Committee's final report on India's Personal Data Protection Bill has been tabled in Parliament's two chambers. Lok Sabha outlined the report, which features 81 recommendations from the JPC and 150 corrections and improvements to various provisions. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have until the end of the Winter Session Dec. 23 to consider and approve the report before acting on the bill, which may be considered in the current session or a future session. Key discrepancies remai... Read More