Govt Likely To Meet Meta, Google, Microsoft, Others On Digital India Act

The government is likely to start setting up meetings with stakeholders from around the country to discuss the upcoming draft Digital India Act before its release for public consultation.

The meetings are set to start from Hyderabad and then continue to other cities. It will see the participation of top companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft and startups from India’s startup ecosystem, sources told ET.

The draft Digital India Act is supposed to be the successor of the Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000 and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is currently working on the draft.

While the details of the draft Digital India Act are still mostly under wraps, the government is likely to introduce new regulations for data storage, online gaming, cyberbullying, doxing and other cybercrimes. The government is also set to introduce regulations for ecommerce websites and AI-enabled platforms.

According to one senior government official cited by ET, the draft act will contain provisions for executive rulemaking as and when time and technology change and move forward.

The draft Digital India Act comes at a time when India’s startup ecosystem is nearing maturity and the year 2023 looks set to be a defining year. The IT Act of 2000 has become outdated with the rapid technological shifts of the 21st century and hence, there is a need to replace it with a more contemporary regulatory framework.

Speaking at Google for India last month, the Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government is working on an overarching regulatory framework for India’s digital economy and startup ecosystem and it might take around 14-16 months to complete.

According to the union minister, the government is creating three horizontals for the digital regulatory framework. The first is the draft Telecommunications Bill, the second is the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the third is the draft Digital India Act.

“These are the three horizontals on top of which will be multiple small, sectoral, focused, modular regulations. It is a very comprehensive outlook and we should be able to complete this exercise in the coming 14-16 months,” the union minister said.

The first bill is for the carrier, the second bill is focused on enforcing citizens’ privacy rights and the third will look at everything else, Vaishnaw added.

The first two draft bills have already been submitted for public consultation and are likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha during the upcoming Budget Session. Further, the government will likely move all the regulations related to India’s digital economy under the umbrella of the Digital India Act, once the bill is adopted into law.