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NASSCOM PUBLIC POLICY HIGHLIGHTS, VOL 6, ISSUE 3, APRIL 2024
NASSCOM PUBLIC POLICY HIGHLIGHTS, VOL 6, ISSUE 3, APRIL 2024

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nasscom Public Policy Monthly Mailer | Volume 6, Issue 4 | April 2024
 
 
focus in Focus
 
 
 
 
 
 
MoF  
Most favoured nation clause
According to a recent Supreme Court decision, notification from CBDT is mandatory for application of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause under tax treaties, potentially leading to prolonged disputes and higher tax liabilities for taxpayers. In view of the hardships that could be faced by the taxpayers, we believe that the benefit of MFN clause should be made available on an automatic once the tax treaty is notified. Accordingly, we have requested CBDT to issue appropriate notifications in respect of application of MFN (with effect from the date on which MFN clause was incorporated into the tax treaty) wherever such MFN benefit has not been completely/ partially notified.
 
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representations SUBMISSIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS
 
 
 
 
 
 
CCI  
Seeking extension of time for submitting feedback on CDCL Report, 2024
MCA released the CDCL report and the draft Digital Competition Bill for public consultation. The duration of the feedback is 30 days ending on April 15, 2024. We have received feedback from the industry that more time is needed to provide meaningful feedback to the report as well as the draft Bill. Given that this is the first public consultation on a proposal for new legislation we have requested MCA to give at least 60 days to provide meaningful stakeholders' feedback.
 
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MCA  
Local back-up of electronic records in India
MCA had issued a notification on August 5, 2022 requiring electronic record of books of accounts to be accessible and backed up in India on a server in India on a daily basis. As per industry feedback, there is a need for guidance so that the companies and their auditors have a common reference point to ensure compliance. In the absence of this, there are differences in interpretations, leading to potential qualifications by the auditors in their report. Moreover, a broad interpretation of “books of account” could lead to extensive data backup requirements, especially considering the use of multiple software systems in business operations. We have requested MCA to issue a guidance and limit backup requirements to essential financial records to ensure that the regulatory objectives are met, and operational challenges are avoided. We have also requested MCA to provide adequate time and clarity for implementing necessary changes in ERP systems to comply with these provisions effectively.
 
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discussion DIALOGUE & DISCUSSION
 
 
 
 
 
 
Startups and MSMEs  
Government Procurement - Understanding the GeM portal and its key features
We, in partnership with the nasscom start-ups team, organised a workshop on the GeM portal and its key features. This interactive workshop on March 13, 2024 witnessed participation from over 20 early-stage tech start-ups and MSMEs from diverse verticals, including lean-tech, edtech, e-logistics and drones. The speakers included AV Muralidharan, Addl. Director General & Chief Product Category Office (GeM), Vinit Bansal, Director, Services (GeM) and Anurag Awasthi, Chief Manager, Social Inclusion and Inclusive Seller Impact (GeM). Participants learned the unique features of the GeM portal, such as, option to avail collateral free working capital loan, integration with Udyam portal for MSMEs etc. GeM is a significant avenue for market access for the industry. In FY 23-24, the cumulative order value on GeM for start-ups and MSMEs was over INR 22, 990 cr and INR 377 cr, respectively.
 
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Startups and MSMEs  
Patents - filing process, common challenges and commercialisation
We, in partnership with the nasscom start-ups team, organised a workshop on patent filing On March 13, 2024. This interactive workshop witnessed participation from over 20 early-stage tech start-ups and MSMEs from diverse verticals, including lean-tech, edtech, e-logistics and drones. The speaker, Kirti Balasubramanian, Partner, Trilegal, covered the different types of IP protections, process for filing patents, essential elements of patentability, characteristics of a good quality patent that can withstand the pressure of opposition, and best practices for start-ups to secure a patent for their invention. Participants also learned the benefits of creating an IP-protection strategy, specifically to identify the right type of IP protection, deciding the approach for commercialising the invention etc.
 
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Data Governance  
Data for Good Governance
On March 28, 2024, MEITY organised a workshop on Data for Good Governance with the aim to have a dialogue charting the course for leveraging data governance as a catalyst for transparency, efficiency, and innovation across government and society. Ashish Aggarwal spoke on ‘Data Governance for Unlocking Innovation' where he focused on the importance of reusability of government data for enabling innovation in India.
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
Consumer Protection  
AI and Protection of Consumer Rights - Challenges versus Opportunities
On March 15, Ashish Aggarwal spoke at the Department of Consumer Affair's event on 'Fair and responsible AI for consumers'. As a panellist, he spoke on 'AI and Protection of Consumer Rights - Challenges versus Opportunities’. He focused on highlighting how industry is using AI-based solutions to strengthen consumer protection, for example, for managing grievance redressal, detecting fake reviews and counterfeit products on e-commerce websites, improving consumer experience in offline transactions etc.
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
Data Protection  
Privacy and Progress - Pillars of Digital Bharat
On March 21, 2024, ASCI organised an event releasing its whitepaper 'Privacy and Progress: Pillars of Digital Bharat' highlighting the implications of the DPDP Act in advertising. Nasscom's Vice President and Head, Public Policy, Ashish Aggarwal participated in the panel discussion on ‘DPDPA – Compliance, Preparedness, Challenges and Tools’ along with Bibhav Pradhan, Data Protection Advisor, South Asia Cluster, HUL and Gowree Gokhale, Nishith Desai Associates. The discussion was derated by Indranil Choiudhary, Lexplosion Solutions. Ashish highlighted the applicability of the DPDPA to the adtech and marketing campaigns in India and the increasing emphasis on consent as the basis for processing personal data across jurisdictions.
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
Data Protection  
Age Gating and Verifiable Parental Consent
On March 7, 2024, at the 2024 annual ITechLaw conference, Ashish Aggarwal spoke at a panel on 'DPDPA - Age Gating and Verifiable Parental Consent'. He was joined by Amlan Mohanty; Rahul Matthan, Trilegal; and Ritika Chatterjee, Mayhem Studios, India. In this discussion, he focussed on the need for infrastructure and ecosystem for consent management to make verifiable parental consent workable at scale.
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
Data Protection  
Navigating India's New Personal Data Protection Framework
On March 29, 2024, Ashish Aggarwal spoke at the ABA India Conference 2024 event as a part of the panel on ‘Navigating India’s New Personal Data Protection Framework’. He was joined by Rakesh Maheshwari, Former MEITY Officer, Cyber Law and Cyber Security Division; Damini Marwah, General Counsel, Axis Bank; Meenal Nasa, Senior Corporate Counsel, Corporate, External and Legal Affairs; Microsoft, and Adhiraj Singh, Associate General Counsel, Make My Trip. He discussed the distinctions between consent and voluntary provision of personal data under the DPDPA.
 
 
 
 
 
 
upcoming NEW & UPCOMING
 
 
 
 
 
 
CCI  
Draft Digital Competition Bill 2024
We are inviting feedback on the CDCL report and the draft Digital Competition Bil, 2024. Further, we encourage you to focus on use-cases of possible unintended impact of the Bill and specific clarifications, if any, that the industry needs to seek from the MCA. For any feedback on the same, please write to policy@nasscom.in .
 
 
 
 
 
 
update OTHER UPDATES
 
 
 
 
 
 
GST  
Issue of guidelines by DGGI on investigation and summons
The CBIC has approved a detailed standard operating procedure for officials of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) with specific instructions regarding their conduct during tax investigation, summons and searches to improve the ease of doing business and to prevent any incident of harassment to taxpayers. We had requested MoF to make the contents of the Instruction publicly available as the purpose behind releasing these guidelines is to enhance and streamline the investigative procedures conducted by the DGGI. The guidelines are a positive development and will help in addressing challenges being faced by the taxpayers during DGGI investigations.
 
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MEITY  
Release of Advisory to intermediaries and platforms on Artificial Intelligence and Synthetic Media
In the backdrop of upcoming General elections, on March 15, 2024, MEITY issued a public advisory to all intermediaries and platforms advising them to comply with measures aimed at the use of AI models, software, or algorithms (including generative AI). Measures include ensuring that these do not permit any bias or discrimination or 'threaten the integrity of the electoral process'; that outputs from 'under-tested' or 'unreliable' foundation models or large language models are accompanied with labels that they may be inherently fallible or unreliable; and that synthetic media is labelled or embedded with a unique identifier or metadata.
 
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DGFT  
Releases General Authorisation for Export of Information Security Policy and Telecommunication
On March 27, 2024, the DGFT released the final bulk licensing policy, which provides framework for exporting information security and telecommunication-related items. This includes key changes suggested by nasscom, including a clarification on re-exports, a clarified scope, and the exclusion of Annexure 1.
 
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MOCI  
Notification of Patent (Amendment) Rules, 2024
MOCI has notified the amended patent Rules on March 15, 2024 for which nasscom had submitted its feedback. The amendment introduces several EoDB changes in the Indian patent regime, broadly in sync with our previous feedback, including rationalising scope of disclosure on working of patents, reducing the timeline for filing a request for examination, and procedure for scrutiny of representations for pre-grant oppositions by the Controller of Patents.
 
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RBI  
Omnibus Framework for recognising SRO for Regulated Entities
RBI has published the Omnibus Framework for recognising SROs for Regulated Entities, for which nasscom had submitted feedback. The objective of this SRO is to foster advancement in the financial services sector, promote a culture of compliance among members and address critical industry concerns. Its responsibilities include establishing a grievance redressal framework for members, offer counselling on practices that are detrimental to the growth of the sector, keep RBI informed of the developments in the sector, periodically engage with RBI etc.
 
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EU  
Obligations under the Digital Markets Act become operational
The obligations and prohibitions (a set of positive and negative obligations) under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into effect from March 07, 2024, and would apply to the designated gatekeepers. The DMA imposes rules on platforms designated as "gatekeepers" in the digital sector to ensure fairness and contestability in digital markets. So far, the European Commission has designated 6 gatekeepers (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft) for certain core platform services.
 
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List of Acronyms
 
ABA American Bar Association
ASCI Advertising Standards Council of India
AI Artificial Intelligence
CBDT Central Board of Direct Taxes
CBIC Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
CCI Competition Commission of India
CDCL Committee on Digital Competition Law
DGFT Director General of Foreign Trade
DGGI Directorate General of GST Intelligence
DPDPA Digital Personal Data Protection Act
DPIIT Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
DTA Domestic Tariff Area
EU European Union
GeM Government e-Marketplace
 
GST Goods and Services Tax
IPR Intellectual Property Rights
IT Information Technology
IT Rules The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
MCA Ministry of Corporate Affairs
MFN Most Favoured Nation
MEITY Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
MOF Ministry of Finance
MOCI Ministry of Commerce and Industry
MSME Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
RBI Reserve Bank of India
SRO Self-regulatory Organisation
 
 
 
 
 
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Email us at policy@nasscom.in.
 
 
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