Delhi Services Act & Data Protection Act Become Laws with President Droupadi Murmu's Approval

President Droupadi Murmu granted her approval to four bills that were passed during the monsoon session of the Parliament. The bills include: Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill.

In a blow to the Arvind Kejriwal government and the opposition unity, Rajya Sabha had earlier passed the bill concerning Delhi government officers including appointments and transfers, giving more power to the Centre over the affairs in the national capital.

The Upper House of Parliament witnessed a division of votes in which the ruling coalition got the support of 131 members while 102 MPs voted against the bill, which seeks to create an authority for transfer and disciplinary proceedings against bureaucrats from the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Services (DANICS) cadre.

The bill was already passed, on August 3, by Lok Sabha where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the majority.

The passage of the bill in Parliament can be seen as the first defeat of the newly stitched coalition of 26 opposition parties including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress, DMK, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. The opposition was hoping to beat the bill in Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led NDA does not have the majority but parties like YSCRP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) came to the rescue of the ruling coalition.

Digital Data Protection Law

he Digital Personal Data Protection bill, passed by Parliament this week, has received President’s assent, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) law aims to protect the privacy of Indian citizens while proposing a penalty of up to Rs 250 crore on entities for misusing or failing to protect digital data of individuals.

Companies handling user data will be required to safeguard the individual’s information, and instances of personal data breach have to be reported to the Data Protection Board (DPB) and the user. “DPDP Bill becomes an Act. Received Hon’ble President’s assent,” Vaishnaw said in similar posts on X (formerly Twitter), and homegrown app Koo.

On August 9, the Rajya Sabha approved the DPDP bill that introduces several compliance requirements for the collection and processing of personal data, has provisions to curb misuse of individuals’ data by online platforms, and entails up to Rs 250 crore penalty for any data breach. Data of children can be processed after consent from guardians, as per the DPDP law. The Lok Sabha had approved the bill on August 7. The government expects to implement the Act within 10 months, IT Minister Vaishnaw had said earlier this week.

The bill lays down the manner in which companies should process users’ data, and gives the government power to seek information from firms and issue directions to block content on the advice of a data protection board appointed by the Union government. It allows users the right to correct their personal data. The bill applies to the processing of digital personal data in India, where the personal data is either collected in digital form or in a non-digitised format and subsequently digitised.

The bill defines ‘personal data’ broadly to include any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data. ‘digital personal data’ is defined to mean personal data in digital form. DPDP gives the government powers to exempt state agencies from the law.