“Digital Privacy and Data Protection law passed in parliament catapults us towards a strong Trillion $ #DigitalIndia economy. It is very well articulated, detailed and built by @Rajeev_GoI and India’s technology ministry @GOI_MeitY. This is exactly the kind of progress of our digital economy in the last 10 years, that inspires entrepreneurs to build for India, in India,” Sharma said.

Paytm, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, is a multinational financial technology company that allows digital payments and other financial services.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, which curbs the misuse of personal information by online platforms, received assent from President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday to become a law after being passed in both the houses of the Parliament, during the recently concluded Monsoon Session.

Truecaller CEO on Data Protection Bill

After the bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament, the co-founder and CEO of Truecaller, Alan Mamedi, issued a statement saying their company “welcomes the new data protection bill” and that the provisions of the bill are a “great addition” to their mission of providing a safer experience for customers. Truecaller is mostly used for ‘caller identification’ purposes and requires a standard mobile number for registration with the service.

“We welcome the new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill in India that provides a modern, straight-forward and comprehensive privacy framework. Truecaller has been helping Indian consumers to have a safer experience for the past 14 years with GDPR-like rights to protect the consumer, and we believe that the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is a great addition to that mission across the whole Internet. We stay committed to our mission of making communication safe in India and around the world and will comply with all provisions of the upcoming regulations. We are positive about the bill, which provides clarity and long-term conditions, and our assessment remains that the new law will not affect the user experience in any significant manner,” Alan Mamedi said in his statement.

A quick look at provisions of Digital Personal Data Protection Act

-The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act aims to safeguard the privacy of Indian citizens and penalty of up to ₹250 crore on platforms misusing or not securing digital data of the individuals.

-The law outlines how companies should handle users’ data stating that the government can ask companies for information and instruct content blocking based on advice from a data protection board appointed by the Union government. Users also have the right to correct their personal data.

-It defines ‘personal data’ broadly, covering information identifying an individual, and ‘digital personal data’ refers to personal data in digital form.

-The law amends the Right to Information Act of 2005 (RTI), removing exemptions on disclosing personal information for public interest. The current RTI Act lets public authorities disclose personal information, like officials’ salaries, when it serves public interest.

-Union minister of information and technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, addressing the Lok Sabha, had said that the bill imposes obligations on private and government entities regarding every citizen’s data collection and processing. Vaishnaw added that the bill had undergone substantial public consultation before being presented in the House.