New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved the Personal Data Protection Bill that will spell out a framework for the handling of personal data including its processing by public and private entities.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Bill will be introduced in Parliament during the current Winter Session.
The Bill is likely to contain broad guidelines on collection, storage and processing of personal data, consent of individuals, penalties and compensation, code of conduct and an enforcement model.
The proposed law may have a considerable impact on MNCs operating in India, whether with or without a physical presence, due to its data localisation requirements and cross-border data transfer restrictions.
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Last week, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government will soon introduce a robust and balanced Personal Data Protection Bill in Parliament, adding that India will never compromise on data sovereignty.
Toeing the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the government had last year introduced a draft personal data protection bill to regulate the use of individual's data by the government and private companies.
The draft bill, titled The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, was prepared by an expert group headed by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna. Now there will be norms on the collection, storage and processing of personal data, consent of individuals, penalties and compensation, code of conduct and an enforcement model is likely to be a part of the law.
Personal Data Protection Bill proposes penalty of up to Rs 15 cr
Companies may face a penalty of up to Rs 15 crore or 4 per cent of global turnover for major violations under the proposed Personal Data Protection law.
"In case of major violations, Personal Data Protection Bill proposes penalty of up to Rs 15 crore or 4 per cent of global turnover (whichever is higher). For minor violation, penalty of Rs 5 crore or 2 per cent of global turnover is proposed," a source said.
"Data privacy law exempts processing of data without consent in case of issues around sovereignty, national security, court order etc," the source said.
