Data Protection Bill: This much fine entities will have to pay for violating online information of citizens

livemint.com:

₹250 crore and a minimum of ₹50 crore would be imposed on them, including blocking of the platform. This new mandate has come as the union government on Thursday tabled the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 in the Lok Sabha with an aim to protect the privacy of Indian citizens. The entities such as social media companies, startups, e-commerce platforms, banks, fintech, state-backed entities etc will be imposed with a penalty of up to ₹250 crore for misusing or failing to protect the digital data of individuals, the Bill proposed on Thursday.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for electronics and Information Technology, tabled the crucial Data Protection Bill, 2023 on Thursday in Lok Sabha. However, several Parliamentarians from Opposition parties opposed the move and asked to be sent to a standing committee instead, before a voice vote allowed for the legislation to be taken up, with discussions likely over the next few days. Vaishnaw rejected suggestions that it was a money bill.

He said it was a "normal bill". The bill which comes after six years of the Supreme Court declaring the "Right to Privacy" as a fundamental right has provisions to curb misuse of individuals' data by online platforms. In the pipeline since 2017, the law is meant to give a legal framework for privacy protections as the apex court asked the government to examine and put in place a "robust regime" for data protection in the modern era.