New Digital India Act Necessary As A Lot Has Changed In The Last Few Decades: Tata Sons’ N Chandrasekaran

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday (June 9) backed the prospective Digital India Act, saying that a lot has changed in the technology landscape since the original IT Act was promulgated decades ago.

“I think the Digital India Act is necessary because so much has changed over the last couple of decades since the original IT Act was put in place,” said Chandrasekaran.

He made the comments while addressing the virtual annual general meeting (AGM) of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

“I am glad that the government is engaged and developing a participative approach to develop the Digital Act which is an important thing, especially when there are new issues like privacy and other aspects that will come into this (new) Act,” he added.

Chandrasekaran’s comments come as the government gears up to come out with the ambitious Digital India Act. In April, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar reportedly said that the policy would be rolled out shortly. Previously too, Chandrasekhar had called for a ‘new digital law’ to replace the ‘dated’ Information Technology Act, 2000.

The Centre plans to come out with a data governance policy framework, cybersecurity policies and guidelines, a new data protection law and the overarching Digital India Act.

The proposed Digital India Act will oversee laws dealing with cybercrime and ecommerce. 

The government’s Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has been in cold storage for the last three years and was last referred to a joint parliamentary panel which submitted its report in December 2021. Chandrasekhar had previously said that the Bill may take some more time to take shape as the government does not want to rush into it.

The government has also proposed to form India Data Management Office (IDMO) to frame, manage and revise the National Data Governance Framework Policy. Earlier, the Centre came out with India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 in February 2022. However, following criticism from multiple quarters over its bid to monetise non-personal data of citizens, the government decided to keep the policy on hold and address the concerns.

Tata Sons Chairman’s backing for a revamped law comes as the conglomerate expands its digital offerings. The company recently launched its super app Tata Neu to offer a slew of services under a single umbrella. The company’s cash cow TCS as well as Tata Digital operate under the ambit of India’s IT Act.