“Technological innovation has unprecedented potential to make finance more inclusive, competitive and robust. It is crucial that technological advancements in the world of FinTech evolve in a responsible manner and are truly beneficial to the people at large.” – Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI If, like me, you are reeling from the frenzy of the Global Fintech Festival (GFF) held in Mumbai this month, I hope you’ve had some much-needed downtime after the event. The event itself was a show of strength. An ode to the sector’s vitality and resilience. The stats on the GFF are pretty impressive too ..read more

Arindrajit Basu and Rutuja Pol penned an op-ed that appeared on Saturday, 16th September’s print edition of The Economic Times as “Putting up digital bolts and latches.” A longer version of this article is available here. The op-ed provides three reasons on why the G20 outcomes on security in the digital economy matter for businesses globally. It also highlights the relevance of these outcomes for countries that are firming up their domestic legislation on online safety and user harm ..read more

Introduction The rapid proliferation of diverse threats to online security remains a critical challenge to developing trust in the digital environment and economy. Given the transnational nature of cyber threats, global governance efforts have attempted to construct norms that could shape responsible behavior for states in the digital environment. To date, cybersecurity has largely been considered a “national security” matter, deliberated upon within the confines of multilateral institutions. The G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) hosted by the Indian Presidency this year extended settle ..read more

New anti-tobacco warning rules for OTTs issued by India’s union health ministry for OTT platforms do not consider the unique nature of OTT content consumption. This article raises questions about the effectiveness of these measures, and suggests that a collaborative approach with the industry and existing self-regulatory mechanisms would be more appropriate.  A longer version of this blog written by Pallavi Sondhi, Senior Associate and Anirudh Rastogi, Managing Partner was first published in The Indian Express and is available here. Imagine your binge-watching session interrupted by anti ..read more

In this article, we discuss how the consent requirement under the new data law interplays with use of data to cross-sell/up-sell other products by fintechs. Continuing on the fintech and DPDP series, our partners Sreenidhi Srinivasan and Aparajita Srivastava speak about using data (collected for one purpose) to cross-sell/up-sell other products. For example, what if, as a platform, you’d like to use a customer’s payments/transaction data to cross-sell an insurance product? Cross-selling is a common platform strategy. Digital payment platforms, like UPI or PPI (e-wallets) providers, a ..read more

In the context of PayPal’s recent appeal to a larger bench, we delve into the verdict of the Delhi High Court in PayPal Payments Private Limited v. Financial Intelligence Unit – India. In our article, we analyse the arguments of both sides, the complexities surrounding the definition of ‘reporting entities’ under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and its implications for fintechs. The Delhi High Court’s judgement in PayPal Payments Private Limited (PayPal) v. Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU) has opened up Pandora’s box. At its heart? The expansive reading of ‘reporting entities ..read more

“If you don’t see me in half a decade, just wait a little longer” – India’s data protection bill (circa 2018) On 9th August, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 was finally passed in the Parliament. We’ve waited for over half a decade, broken up with several versions of the bill – and several reports on the bill. Given average attention spans these days – not many things have been this relevant for this long – and rightfully so. In this edition, we discuss the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023; the upcoming digital competition law; TRAI’s attempt to regulate OTTs; and a p ..read more

This article discusses the first step for fintechs to get ready for the new data law. It originally appeared in the July 2023 Edition of FinTales, our monthly fintech newsletter. No piece of legislation has taken more punches than our elusive data protection law. You’ve heard this before, but we’ll say it again. The data law is nearly here! The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 was introduced in Parliament on 3 August 2023. And this time, the stars may well align for the law to be passed. The new bill is lean and principle-based and leaves the details to the rules (which will be fram ..read more

A detailed clause-wise analysis of the Digital Personal data Protection Bill 2023 On 7 August 2023, the Lok Sabha passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023. It will soon be introduced in the Rajya Sabha and likely become a law in a couple of days. We present a clause-wise analysis of the 2023 Bill – where we compare it with the earlier version published by the Central Government in December 2022. Key changes include: cross-border data flows, exemption for information made publicly available by an individual or under law, narrow ‘legitimate uses’ for non consent base ..read more

“Bribery, corruption, money laundering, millions and millions and millions of dollars….[…]…..somebody has to sound the alarm.” – Meryl Streep, The Laundromat The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (or, as its friends call it, the ‘PMLA’) is a long-arm law. It gives its enforcing agency, the Enforcement Directorate (or as its, umm.. acquaintances call it, the ‘ED’), sweeping powers. In 2019, the ED used this power to cease three chimpanzees and four marmosets as ‘proceeds of crime’. What are marmosets you ask? They are a kind of punk rock monkey. Google them.   Fast forward to the last mo ..read more