Digital India Act to be more principle-based: MoS IT Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics & IT, on Thursday said the upcoming Digital India Act, which will replace India’s primary digital law IT Act, 2000, will be less prescriptive and more principle-based. He said the Act will enable and support a vibrant start-up and innovation ecosystem.

The government is close to drafting the Digital India Act, legislation to govern the digital space on key issues such as online harm, de-platforming, doxxing, and social media algorithms. The law is also expected to create a regulator for the internet similar to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

“The efficacy, implementation and acceptance of any bill or legislation is as good as how many minds come together to help in its draft. Our effort has been to involve as many stakeholders as possible in the process of law-making. It is the government’s legislation as much as it is the stakeholders’ legislation,” the Minister said while speaking at an event in Bangalore.

The ministry of electronics and IT has introduced the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework policy, and IT Rules, 2021, in the last two years.

Later in an interactive session, Chandrasekhar said, “India will lead the world in all things blockchain- both in size and scale and how we migrate to web 3.0.”

In reply to a query about Crypto currency, the Minister said there was no issue with crypto unless all laws and rules of the land were followed. “There is nothing today that outlaws crypto as long as you follow the legal process. If you want to invest in crypto, make sure you go through the RBI, get your LRS eligibility, and the dollars as per rules.”

The Minister also visited the office of NXP Semiconductors in Bengaluru to meet the leaders. He also interacted with the startups and entrepreneurs that are being mentored by them. “They shared details about their projects with the Minister and showed keen interest in the Government of India’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme,” said a note by the Press Information Bureau.

Chandrasekhar also maintained that the DLI can help in their growth trajectory. Later in the evening, the Minister will be meeting Global Capability Center heads to discuss the growth of the semiconductor and electronics sectors.