No doubt on DPDP Bill, being readied for Parliament approval soon: MoS IT

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday said there is no need for any doubts or questions in regard to the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill.

In a tweet, the Minister said the bill is being readied for Parliament approval soon.

"There is no need for any doubts or questions in regard of #DPDPBill. After extensive public consultations it's being readied for govt and Parliament approval soon," Chandrasekhar said.

His remarks came amid the debate over whether the Standing Committee on Communications and IT had given its nod to the draft data protection bill before it goes to the Parliament for approval.

Some members of the parliamentary standing committee had said they are yet to clear the draft bill.

The government in August last year withdrew the contentious PDP Bill that saw 81 amendments, aiming to introduce a new bill that fits into the comprehensive legal framework and protects the data of billions of citizens.

The new draft will allow cross-border transfer of some users' data with "certain notified countries and territories".

The new PDP bill has also proposed harsh penalties of as much as Rs 250 crore on people and companies that fail to prevent data breaches.

The DPDP Bill will be designed to redress concerns and complaints regarding data protection in a manner that the mechanism is accessible and effective for every strata of the society, according to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Vaishnaw had said that as the PDP Bill gets finalised, on cross-border data flows, the government will ensure that the approach focusses on strengthening data protection without disrupting data flows.