Topics:Aadhaar, Cinematograph Act, Government, Intermediary Liability, Legal, Lok Sabha, Motor Vehicles Act, Parliament, Parliament Questions, Personal Data Protection Bill, Policy

Parliament’s Budget Session: DMK MP Dr. D Ravikumar to introduce private members’ Data Protection and Privacy Bill today

Trisha Jalan

Published

July 26, 2019

We’re tracking all the developments related to internet and technology in India during the Budget Session of the Parliament. This will include all proposed legislation, bills listed or pending, and questions (related to technology and internet ecosystem) asked in both houses each day of the Parliament. In this session, we’re watching out for the Personal Data Protection Bill and notification about the Intermediary Liability Rules amendment, both which the Minister for Electronics and IT, R.S. Prasad, has said are his key priorities. Here’s a refresher on the present state of the internet ecosystem in India:

(Scroll down for updates on legislation and questions asked in Parliament.)

Some important dates in this session:

July 5th: Union Budget 2019-20, follow our LIVE blog
July 4th: Economic Survey, and discussion of the Aadhaar Amendment Bill
June 24: Aadhaar Amendment Bill passed in Parliament

Legislation

Bills listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha’s Budget Session

Title	Key objectives	Current status
The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019	Bill to replace the Aadhaar ordinance of February 2019 Allows private usage of Aadhaar, provides for offline Aadhaar authentication, and gives overarching powers to the UIDAI. Here’s an explainer	Passed in Rajya Sabha on July 8 Passed in Lok Sabha on July 4 Introduced in Lok Sabha on June 24 by Minister for IT, and Law & Justice RS Prasad
Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019	To govern data protection and regulation in the country Read highlights from the first draft here, also a liveblog here.	Listed for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing
The Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2019	Amends the Intermediary Liability Rules, 2011 Places greater legal responsibility on internet platforms for the actions of their users, among other things Here’s a summary	Listed for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 Read the 2017 version of the bill here	May make Aadhaar mandatory to get driver’s license, regulates taxi aggregators as digital intermediaries, digitizes forms and road safety monitoring Read our summary of the expected tech-related changes here	Passed in the Lok Sabha on July 23
Personal Data and Information Privacy Code Bill, 2019	Private members’ bill by DMK MP Dr. D Ravikumar	Listed for introduction on July 26
The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019	Regulates of use and application of DNA Technology for identification of criminals, undertrials, etc	Listed for passage on July 26

Bills introduced in Rajya Sabha, pending with Standing Committee

Title	Key objectives	Current status
The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019	Proposals to combat piracy, introduces punitive measures	Introduced in Rajya Sabha, then referred to Standing Committee on IT on February 22, 2019 May be taken up for consideration and passing if Committee Report is presented to Lok Sabha, and the Bill, as passed by Rajya Sabha, is laid on the Lok Sabha

Questions asked in Parliament

We will be reporting all Parliament questions related to the internet and technology ecosystem. The first day that questions related to internet and technology were asked was June 21, even though the Parliament commenced on June 17; the first few days saw newly-elected MPs being sworn in.