The mixed dozen: how the Indian government can view technology

The year was largely marked by the failure of Indian technology policy. Much hesitant. MeitY failed to produce and ratify rules to implement the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) and establish a data protection committee. This means the law remains unenforced 18 months after it was passed and eight years after the Supreme Court declared privacy a fundamental right. It also failed to ratify self-regulatory bodies for real money gaming 18 months after notifying largely illogical rules to regulate the sector. There was also an ill-considered “opinion” in February that required registration of AI models.
The I&B ministry’s mid-year rollout of rules requiring submission of online advertisement copies through an online form is impossible to enforce. The Broadcasting Bill appears to lack understanding of the Internet. Over the year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs encroached on MeitY’s territory by trying to regulate the sector to encourage competition – even though there was no market failure. It must be recognized that MeitY ultimately held its own consultations on the issue. Sebi has also attempted to regulate advertising on social media, encroaching on the turf of both I&B and MeitY.