Govt may give 6 months to industry to adjust to new data rules: MoS IT

The government may give around six months to industry to align with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said.

However, the actual transition time will be decided after consultation with stakeholders, he added.

During a fireside chat session with students at Delhi University, Chandrasekhar said the government is ready with all rules and ready to notify the Data Protection Board soon.

The minister said the migration to the new regime should not lead to any disruption in the businesses.

"We may give a certain amount of time for platforms to migrate, to have consent managers, redesign their consent form, make sure data processing is aligned to the act...we will not give them 2 years. It will be some number, six months or something like that so that transition is orderly," Chandrasekhar said.

He said there will be enough time given so that people become aware of their rights, and MSME should also get some time to adjust to the rules.

"We are ready with notification for Data Protection Board (DPB)," Chandrasekhar said.

People will be able to file complaints under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act after the DPB is set up.

While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Chandrasekhar said the consultation with industry will be held after the G20 event to decide on transition time.

The G20 Summit will be held on September 9 and 10.

The minister said the appointments on DPB will be done in about a month after the board is notified.

When asked about the government's stand on import restriction timelines, Chandrasekhar said there is no plan to extend the deadline, and it is the management of imports.

The government has announced to restrict the import of IT hardware like laptops, tablets, servers, etc. from November 1 this year.

He said that the government has taken steps to ensure IT hardware comes only from trusted sources.