Top headlines: CDSL malware attack, removal of penal offences from GST law

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Everything shouldn't be hardcoded into data protection Bill: Vaishnaw

The government has chosen the middle path while writing the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, by not going to the extremes of complete government control or a free hand to Big Tech companies, says Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union communications and electronics & information technology minister, in an interview with Surajeet Das Gupta & Sourabh Lele. He discusses a range of provisions in the Bill, including a list of trusted countries and penalties for violations. Read more

Govt likely to remove penal offences covered under IPC from GST law

The government is considering to remove the penal offences which are already covered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) from the GST Act to make it more taxpayer-friendly, an official said.

The proposal, part of the exercise to decriminalise GST law, is likely to be taken up in the next meeting of the GST Council. Once approved by the GST Council, the Finance Ministry will propose amendments to the GST law, which could be taken up in the upcoming winter session of Parliament next month.

"Law committee has finalised the changes in Section 132 of the GST Act as part of the exercise to decriminalise the law," the official told PTI. Read more

CDSL malware attack hits broking ops; Sebi, Cert-in to probe incident

Trade-related activity and back-end operations at brokerages were disrupted due to a malware attack at the country’s largest depository, Central Depository Services (India) (CDSL).

Several brokerages informed their clients about disruptions in timelines as CDSL “isolated the machines and disconnected itself from other constituents of the capital market”. Read more

Ola Electric to charge up capacity to 4 mn; may roll out e-cars from 2024

Ola Electric has finalised its second phase of expansion, under which it will increase its plant capacity fourfold — from 1 million two-wheelers per annum to 4 million. This will also include motor­cycles, said a top executive of the company. It will also build a plant with a 5 Gwh of advanced chemistry cell battery storage capacity in the same super factory located on the outskirts of Bengaluru. That apart, it is planning to set up the initial phase of its passenger car manufacturing capacity, from where cars are expected to roll out in 2024. Read more

NPCI holds talks with RBI on proposed December 31 volume cap deadline

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the UPI digital pipeline, is in talks with the Reserve Bank on implementation of its proposed December 31 deadline for limiting the volume cap of players to 30 per cent.

At present, there is no volume cap. So, two players -- Google Pay and PhonePe -- account for a market share of about 80 per cent.

NPCI in November 2022 had proposed a 30 per cent volume cap for third-party app providers (TPAP) in a bid to avoid concentration risk. Read more