Will India’s Data Protection Bill finally see the light of day in the 2021 Union Budget?

India’s Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, after being trudged through numerous parliamentary sessions, is once again expected to be presented in the upcoming Union Budget. And as before, it’s unlikely to be passed.

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India’s Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 – after having been thoroughly analysed and deliberated upon by a 28-member joint parliamentary committee over 66 sittings – is expected to be tabled in the upcoming budget session commencing on 29 January.

However, it’s unlikely the country will see the bill being passed and notified to become an act, dashing hopes of citizens and companies expecting the imminent rollout of India’s first dedicated privacy and data protection law.

“The Personal Data Protection Bill may be tabled in this budget session, but getting notified if tabled will take some more time,” said cyber and privacy law expert, Advocate (Dr.) Prashant Mali.

Furthermore, doubts about the bill being passed were raised at Carnegie India’s Global Technology Summit last month, when a member of the joint parliamentary committee, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said that the current version of the bill will not be approved. He hinted that the bill will have to be redrawn as the committee, after 52 sittings at that point in time, was still not in agreement.