Govt To Bring New Data Protection Bill, Digital India Act To Replace IT Act In 3-4 Months: Minister

Chandrasekhar said a Digital Data Protection Bill and a Digital India Act, which will replace the IT Act, would be rolled out in the next 3-4 months.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar

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Minister of State (Mos) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said the Centre would bring a comprehensive framework of laws that would act as catalysts for innovation and data protection. 

Speaking at an event organised by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), Chandrasekhar said a Digital Data Protection Bill and a Digital India Act, which will replace the IT Act, would be rolled out in the next 3-4 months, ANI reported.

The government may bring the new set of Bills in the winter session of Parliament, PTI had reported earlier.

The announcement comes after the Centre withdrew The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, during the Monsoon session of Parliament last month in the Lok Sabha.

"Data Protection Bill was withdrawn from Parliament because that bill had become very complex, there were far too many amendments that had made the bill create a high degree of compliance for our startups and small companies," ANI quoted Chandrasekhar as saying.

"That is not the intention of our government, we don't want any law or policy to come in way of our innovation ecosystem. In terms of what will be the new framework, we are bringing a comprehensive framework of laws, one of which will be the Digital Data Protection Bill," he further said.

The minister said the Centre would bring a Digital India Act, as a replacement for the IT Act, to catalyze PM's vision of India's "techade". 

"We will bring a modern framework of laws and rules that will be acting as catalysts for innovation and protecting citizen's rights. You will see these being rolled out in quick succession over the next 3-4 months. However, they will be subject to intense stakeholder consultation," said Chandrasekhar.

The withdrawn Data Protection Bill had proposed restrictions on the use of personal data without the explicit consent of citizens. It had also sought to provide the government with powers to give exemptions to its probe agencies from the provisions of the Bill -- a move that was objected to by the Opposition MPs.

At the same event, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the new Data Privacy Bill would will be a product of consultations and would address all the concerns of the previous version of the legislation.

"The (IT) minister has been working very diligently and has assured the new bill will be ready soon. We'll soon have a new Data Privacy Bill, which will be a product of consultations and will address every such concern most of us had on the Privacy Bill," ANI quoted Sitharaman as saying.

"The new Bill will be comprehensive enough to address all issues as consultations have happened both within India and also with experts from outside," she further said.