Nasscom Public Policy Highlights, Vol 4, Issue 9, September 2023

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Nasscom Public Policy Highlights, Vol 4, Issue 9, September 2023

Tejasvi

@tejasvi

September 5, 2023

Public Policy Monthly Newsletters

183

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nasscom Public Policy Monthly Mailer | Volume 4, Issue 9 | September 2023

in Focus

MeitY

Passage of Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023

On August 11, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act received presidential approval and was notified in the Gazette. India now has a dedicated legal regime for personal data protection and has shifted away from the limited framework under section 43A of the Information Technology Act. The objective of this law is to regulate the processing of digital personal data for lawful purposes while recognising individual rights.

This Act is the final version of the earlier draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill that was released in November 2022 on which we had submitted our feedback. The final Act aligns with several of our suggestions including: (a) greater flexibility on the application of protections for children’s data, (b) removing default data localisation or mirroring requirements, (c) avoiding whitelisting of countries for data transfers.


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GST

Submission highlighting issues faced by IT- BPM and e-commerce industry

We submitted suggestions on key issues being faced by the Industry under GST to the Department of Revenue and GST Council, which are aimed at enabling growth and ease of doing business for the industry. The suggestions relate to levy of GST on reimbursement of expense by Indian company to its foreign parent company for issuance of ESOPs, GST on use of IP granted by overseas entity to its Indian entity for captive consumption, denial of export status in cases where export consideration is realised in India in INR into Vostro account, implementation of intermediary circular, amongst others.


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REPRESENTATIONS

DGFT

Import licence requirement for laptops, computers, tablets, servers

We submitted feedback on August 24 requesting for clarification on implementation of the recently notified requirement of import licence for laptops, tablets, computers etc. Our recommendations include giving instructions to on ground authorities clarifying that STPI and SEZ units do not require an additional import licence. We have also requested for exempting data centre industry until manufacturing capabilities in India are developed, and to make import licencing process more efficient.


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MoF

Challenges faced by non-resident taxpayers in mandatory e-filing of Form 10F

We submitted feedback highlighting practical challenges being faced by non-resident taxpayers, whether or not having PAN in e-filing Form 10F. We have requested the government to do away with mandatory electronic filing of Form 10F for NR taxpayers who do not have PAN in India or are not required to obtain PAN under Income Tax Act, 1961. Alternatively, government should allow filing of form 10F electronically without creating a PAN-based login ID on the e-filing portal of tax department and permitting e-verification of the same using OTP instead of DSC.


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RBI

Draft Circular on Arrangements with Card Networks for issue of Debit, Credit and Prepaid Cards

We submitted feedback highlighting that: (a) consumer choice is primarily a function of benefits offered by a card, and not the card-network, and (b) it is not feasible to offer identical credit/debit cards on multiple networks, as agreements between banks and card networks depend on commercial terms. Ultimately, we emphasised that better consumer choice can be enabled by allowing all credit cards to be used for all use-cases.


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DPIIT, MOF

Follow-on submission on enabling direct listing of foreign headquartered Indian start-ups in India

We submitted a follow-on representation highlighting global precents that allow for direct listing of foreign companies, and the regulations in India that need amendments to allow for the same. We have also suggested setting-up a taskforce to recommend measures to make direct listing an attractive option for Indian origin foreign start-ups.


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SEBI

Draft Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework

We submitted feedback highlighting the need to: (a) align incident reporting requirements with CERT-IN’s Cybersecurity Directions, (b) revisit requirements for data residency and (c) narrow the definition of critical assets to focus on business-critical systems. On August 23, we also attended a meeting organised by SEBI with regulated entities and service providers to discuss the issue in detail.


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TRAI

Consultation Paper on Regulatory Mechanism for OTT Communication Services and Selective Banning of OTT Services

We submitted feedback highlighting that: (a) any regulatory definition for all OTT services will cover too broad a set of entities to serve any regulatory purpose, (b) selectively blocking of OTT services should be avoided as this does not appear to be practicable or technically feasible, (c) the case for any new additional framework for OTTs is not made out as they are already subjected to various laws, including a blocking regime, and (d) the government should examine reducing the regulatory burden on TSPs instead.


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TRAI

Consultation Paper on Encouraging Innovative Technologies, Services, Use cases and Business Models and through regulatory sandbox in Digital Communication sector

We submitted feedback highlighting the need to (a) provide a list of positive and negative indicators to bring clarity in assessment of eligibility criteria; and (b) allow foreign entities to apply to the regulatory sandbox. For more information, kindly write to policy@nasscom.in.

DoCA

Task force on Protecting Consumers from Dark Patterns

We submitted feedback highlighting the need for ensuring that legitimate business practices are not prohibited while regulating dark patterns and suggesting illustrations for a better understanding of specific dark patterns. We also suggested setting-up of a government-industry forum to identify and analyse dark patterns, and called for a public consultation for any draft guidelines that may be put-in place. For more information, kindly write to policy@nasscom.in

DIALOGUE & DISCUSSION

Maharashtra Government

Awareness Session on e-commerce under GST

We conducted an awareness session for more than 50 Maharashtra government officials on the business models of e-commerce companies to enable greater efficiency in enforcement of GST provisions. The session provided insights into the operating model of the e-commerce industry and types of services received by sellers from an e-commerce operator. Aspects related to GST refunds, tax collection at source, etc. were also discussed in detail.

Deep-tech
start-ups

Roundtable to discuss the draft National Deep Tech Start-up Policy

As part of Nasscom’s Deep Tech Confluence, we conducted a roundtable discussion to gather feedback on the draft National Deep-tech start-up policy. Overall, the discussion highlighted the need for instituting a strong implementation plan for the initiatives proposed in the draft policy. For more information, kindly write to policy@nasscom.in.

Indian Banking Association

Meeting to discuss the use of Special Rupee Vostro Account mechanism

We participated in a meeting to discuss concerns related to the adoption of the Special Rupee Vostro Account mechanism for international transactions. We highlighted that the acceptance of this mechanism depends largely on the overseas party, and that there is a need to raise more awareness of this mechanism.


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Labour

Engagement with Haryana Labour Department

We are engaging with the Labour Department, Government of Haryana on issues related to facilitating ease of doing business for the IT-BPM industry. For more information kindly write to policy@nasscom.in.

NEW & UPCOMING

Office of Principal
Scientific Advisor

Feedback on the Draft National Deep-tech start-up policy

The Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India has released a draft National Deep-tech start-ups policy for public consultation. The last date for submitting feedback is September 15. We have requested the Industry to provide inputs by September 7.


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OTHER UPDATES

Telangana Government

Agricultural Data Management Framework, 2023

On August 11, the Telangana Government released the Agriculture Data Management Framework 2023 which seeks to promote collection, processing, and sharing of agricultural data to support the development of use-cases and applications for the agricultural sector in a rights-respecting manner. We had submitted feedback on the draft version of this framework in August 2022; several of our suggestions have been reflected in the final framework.


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Parliament of India

Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023

The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 was passed in this monsoon session of the Parliament. It amends 42 laws with the aim of improving ease of doing business by decriminalising certain offences and revising fines and penalties. This includes changes made to the Information Technology Act. In March 2023, we had submitted feedback on the proposed amendments to the Information Technology Act to the Parliamentary Joint Committee examining the Bill. Our recommendation to not take up the amendment to the definition of "Appropriate Government" in this Bill, as it does not pertain to decriminalisation, has been reflected in the final Act.


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List of Acronyms

AI	Artificial Intelligence
CERT-IN	Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
DoCA	Department of Consumer Affairs
DSC	Digital Signature Certificate
DGFT	Directorate General of Foreign Trade
DPIIT	Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
ESOP	Employees Stock Option Plans
GST	Goods & Service Tax
IBA	Indian Banking Association
IP	Intellectual Property
IT	Information Technology
IT Act	Information Technology Act of 2000

MEITY	Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
MOF	Ministry of Finance
OIDAR	Online Information Database Access and Retrieval services
OTP	One-Time Password
OTT	Over-The-Top
PAN	Permanent Account Number
RBI	Reserve Bank of India
SEBI	Securities Exchange Board of India
SEZ	Special Economic Zones
STPI	Software Technology Parks of India
TSP	Telecom Service Provider

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Tejasvi

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