India DPDP Act 2023 Compliance

Overview

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) received Presidential assent on 11 August 2023 and was notified in the Gazette of India as Act No. 22 of 2023. The DPDP Act establishes India's first comprehensive personal data protection framework, replacing the data protection provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 43A and the Sensitive Personal Data or Information Rules, 2011). The Act applies to digital personal data processing within India and to processing outside India if it involves offering goods or services to data principals in India (Section 3).

The Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) is established under Section 18 as the adjudicatory body for enforcement. The Central Government retains rule-making authority under Section 40 to prescribe detailed implementing rules.

Status as of March 2026: The Central Government has published draft DPDP Rules for public consultation. Several provisions await final notification of the rules for full operationalisation.

Key Definitions

Term	Definition	DPDP Act Section
Data Principal	The individual to whom the personal data relates; for children (under 18), the parent/lawful guardian	Section 2(j)
Data Fiduciary	Any person who alone or in conjunction with others determines the purpose and means of processing personal data	Section 2(i)
Data Processor	Any person who processes personal data on behalf of a data fiduciary	Section 2(k)
Consent Manager	A person registered with the Board who acts as a single point of contact for the data principal to manage consent	Section 2(g)
Significant Data Fiduciary	A data fiduciary designated as such by the Central Government based on prescribed criteria	Section 10
Personal Data	Any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data	Section 2(t)

Data Fiduciary Obligations (Sections 4-7)

Section 4: Grounds for Processing

Personal data may be processed only for a lawful purpose and only with the consent of the data principal or for certain legitimate uses.

Ground	Section	Detail
Consent	Section 6	Free, specific, informed, unconditional, unambiguous consent with clear affirmative action
Legitimate uses	Section 7	Seven specified legitimate use categories (see below)

Section 5: Notice Before Consent Collection

Before collecting consent, the data fiduciary must provide notice to the data principal containing:

1. Description of personal data to be processed and the purpose of processing
2. How the data principal may exercise rights (complaint to Board, grievance redressal)
3. How the data principal may make a complaint to the Board

The notice must be in English or any of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

Section 6: Consent Requirements

Requirement	Detail
Nature	Free, specific, informed, unconditional, and unambiguous
Form	Clear affirmative action signifying agreement; no bundled consent for multiple purposes
Scope limitation	Limited to the specified purpose; fresh consent required for new purposes
Withdrawal	Data principal may withdraw consent at any time; withdrawal must be as easy as giving consent
Effect of withdrawal	Data fiduciary must cease processing (and cause processors to cease) within a reasonable period; does not affect lawfulness of prior processing
Deemed consent for existing data	Section 6(4): For personal data processed before the Act's commencement, processing may continue if consent would have been required; the data fiduciary must provide notice as soon as reasonably practicable

Section 7: Legitimate Uses (Without Consent)

Legitimate Use	Section 7 Clause	Scope
Specified purpose for which data was provided voluntarily	Section 7(a)	Data principal voluntarily provides data for a specified purpose (e.g., applying for a government benefit)
State functions	Section 7(b)	Processing by the State or its instrumentalities for subsidies, benefits, services, licences, permits
Legal obligation	Section 7(c)	Processing under any law for compliance with any judgement or order
Medical emergency	Section 7(d)	Responding to a medical emergency involving a threat to life or health
Epidemic/disaster response	Section 7(e)	Processing during an epidemic, outbreak, or threat to public health; disaster or public order breakdown
Employment purposes	Section 7(f)	Processing by employer for employment purposes (prevention of espionage, maintaining confidentiality, recruitment, attendance verification, assessment)
Public interest	Section 7(g)	Processing for purposes as may be prescribed by the Central Government

Consent Manager Framework (Section 6(7))

Registration Requirements

A Consent Manager must be registered with the Data Protection Board and must:

• Be accountable to the data principal
• Act as a single point of contact to enable the data principal to give, manage, review, and withdraw consent
• Interoperable, accessible, and transparent

Consent Manager Obligations (Draft DPDP Rules)

Obligation	Detail
Registration	Must register with the Board; registration valid for 3 years (renewable)
Capital requirement	Minimum net worth of INR 2 crore (approximately USD 240,000)
Interoperability	Must be interoperable with other consent managers and data fiduciaries
Data principal interface	User-friendly dashboard showing all active consents, purposes, and withdrawal options
Record-keeping	Maintain auditable records of all consent transactions for 7 years
Independence	Must not have any conflict of interest with data fiduciaries it serves

Zenith Global Enterprises Consent Manager Integration

Element	Detail
Registered consent managers engaged	DigiConsent India Pvt Ltd (Reg. No. CM-2025-001)
Integration method	API integration with Zenith's customer portal and employee HRMS
Data principal dashboard	Accessible at zenithglobal.in/privacy-dashboard in English and Hindi
Consent transaction volume	Approximately 50,000 consent records per month

Significant Data Fiduciary (Section 10)

Designation Criteria

The Central Government may designate a data fiduciary as a Significant Data Fiduciary (SDF) based on:

• Volume and sensitivity of personal data processed
• Risk to the rights of data principals
• Potential impact on the sovereignty and integrity of India
• Risk to electoral democracy
• Security of the State
• Public order

Additional SDF Obligations (Section 10)

Obligation	Detail
Data Protection Officer (DPO)	Appoint a DPO based in India who represents the SDF and is the point of contact for the data principal and Board (Section 10(2)(a))
Independent data auditor	Appoint an independent data auditor to evaluate compliance; audit report submitted to the Board (Section 10(2)(b))
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)	Conduct periodic DPIAs as prescribed (Section 10(2)(c))
Periodic audits	Regular compliance audits by the independent auditor
Algorithmic transparency	If using algorithmic processing likely to affect data principals, ensure fairness and transparency

Zenith Global Enterprises SDF Assessment

Criterion	Assessment	Designation Risk
Volume of personal data	500,000+ data principals in India	Medium-High
Sensitivity of data	Financial data, identity documents for customs	Medium
Impact on data principals	Moderate (business logistics, not consumer profiling)	Medium
Sovereignty/security risk	Low (commercial logistics, no government data processing)	Low
Overall SDF likelihood	Medium — monitoring Central Government notifications	—

Data Principal Rights (Sections 11-14)

Right	Section	Detail	Implementation
Right to access information about processing	Section 11(1)(a)	Summary of personal data processed and processing activities	Privacy portal in English and Hindi
Right to access identities of data fiduciaries and processors	Section 11(1)(b)	Identity of all data fiduciaries and processors who have been shared data	Data sharing register accessible to data principals
Right to correction and erasure	Section 12	Right to correction of inaccurate or misleading data; right to erasure of data no longer necessary for the purpose	Self-service correction in portal; erasure request workflow
Right to grievance redressal	Section 13	Right to nominate a person to exercise rights in case of death or incapacity; right to have grievances addressed within prescribed period	Grievance officer designated; 30-day response target
Right to nominate	Section 14	Right to nominate another person to exercise rights in case of death or incapacity	Nomination form available in privacy portal

Data Principal Duties (Section 15)

The DPDP Act uniquely imposes duties on data principals:

• Not to register a false or frivolous complaint with the Board
• Not to furnish false or misleading information when exercising rights
• Not to suppress material information when exercising rights
• Not to impersonate another person while interacting with data fiduciary

Breach of data principal duties can result in a penalty of up to INR 10,000.

Children's Data Protection (Section 9)

Requirement	Detail
Age of consent	18 years (no differentiation; all individuals under 18 are children)
Verifiable parental consent	Consent of parent or lawful guardian required before processing child's data
Prohibition on harmful processing	No tracking, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising directed at children
Prohibition on detrimental processing	No processing likely to cause detrimental effect on the well-being of a child
Exemptions	Central Government may exempt certain data fiduciaries or classes of data fiduciaries from some child protection requirements (e.g., for educational or health purposes)

Cross-Border Data Transfer (Section 16)

Transfer Framework

The Central Government may, by notification, restrict the transfer of personal data to countries or territories specified in the notification (blacklist approach). Transfer is permitted to all destinations not appearing on the restricted list.

Element	Detail
Default position	Transfer permitted unless the destination is specifically restricted by Central Government notification
Restricted destinations	To be notified by the Central Government (none notified as of March 2026)
Sector-specific restrictions	Certain sectoral regulations (e.g., RBI data localisation circular for payment data) continue to apply
Contractual safeguards	While not legally mandated under DPDP Act, contractual safeguards recommended as best practice

Zenith Global Enterprises Transfer Register

Transfer Flow	Destination	Sectoral Restriction	Status
Customer data → EU HQ	Germany	None	Active
Employee data → Regional HR	Singapore	None	Active
Payment data → Global Treasury	United Kingdom	RBI localisation applies to payment system data (stored in India, processed copy abroad)	Active with localisation
Logistics data → APAC operations	Japan	None	Active

Enforcement Framework

Data Protection Board of India (Section 18)

Function	Detail
Adjudicatory body	Determines whether data fiduciaries have breached the Act
Complaint handling	Receives complaints from data principals; investigates and adjudicates
Penalty imposition	Imposes financial penalties per the Schedule to the Act
Appeals	Appeals from Board decisions lie to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)

Penalty Schedule

Violation	Maximum Penalty (INR)	Maximum Penalty (USD approx.)
Failure to take reasonable security safeguards (leading to breach)	INR 250 crore (2.5 billion)	USD 30 million
Failure to notify the Board and data principals of a breach	INR 200 crore (2 billion)	USD 24 million
Non-fulfilment of obligations related to children	INR 200 crore (2 billion)	USD 24 million
Non-fulfilment of additional SDF obligations	INR 150 crore (1.5 billion)	USD 18 million
Other breaches by data fiduciary or processor	INR 50 crore (500 million)	USD 6 million
Breach of data principal duties	INR 10,000	USD 120

Breach Notification (Section 8(6))

Element	Requirement
Obligation	Data fiduciary must notify the Board and each affected data principal of a personal data breach
Content	Form and manner as may be prescribed by the Board
Timeline	As prescribed in the rules (expected to be within 72 hours based on draft rules)
Scope	Breaches that are likely to cause harm to the data principal

Compliance Programme

Component	Detail
Grievance Officer (India)	Rajesh Sharma, Head of Compliance — Mumbai office
Privacy notice	Published at zenithglobal.in/privacy in English and Hindi
Consent manager integration	DigiConsent India API integration for customer consent management
Employee processing	Section 7(f) legitimate use for employment purposes; consent for non-employment processing
Security safeguards	Reasonable security safeguards per Section 8(4): encryption, access control, incident response
Breach notification	Procedure for notification to Board and data principals per Section 8(6)
Data processor contracts	Written contracts with all processors per Section 8(2): process only per instructions, implement safeguards
Retention limitation	Data deleted upon purpose fulfilment or consent withdrawal, unless retention required by law (Section 8(7))
Annual training	DPDP Act compliance training for all India employees