Personal Data Protection Bill proposes penalty of up to Rs 15 cr on erring cos

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, which was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, according to official sources.

The Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session.

"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.

As per the Bill, critical data has to be mandatorily stored in India, while sensitive data can be processed outside with explicit consent of data owner.

"Data privacy law exempts processing of data without consent in case of issues around sovereignty, national security, court order etc," the source said.