Big Tech’s push for delaying India’s Draft DPDP rules, 2025 is more of a strategic move to safeguard their operational flexibility and save on the huge compliance expense they would need to commit to for being compliant with the DPDP Rules.
The information technology, industry council ITI, representing global tech giants such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and OpenAI, has urged the Indian government to delay the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025, particularly the provisions restricting the processing of children’s data. The industry body warns that stringent age verification and parental consent requirements could pose significant operational and compliance challenges for digital platforms.
“The asks of multinational technology corporations to defer the implementation of data protection regulations must be understood not as a logical necessity, but resistance to comply with required framework, which presently they operate with minimal regulatory oversight. The invocation of “operational and compliance challenges” is, in reality, a means of prolonging an environment conductive to unregulated data monetization,”
says Kunal Sharma, Partner at Shanghai’s & Co.
Experts feel that citing “international alignment” as a reason for delay is an effort to weaken jurisdictional ssovereignty in legislative policymaking. While regulatory consistency across borders is a worthwhile goal, domestic data protection laws must reflect the unique socio- legal realities of the jurisdiction in which they are implemented. A nation’s right to legislate in the best interests of its citizens should not be undermined by the operational preferences of global corporations.
Big Tech’s push for the delaying India’s Draft DPDP Rules, 2025, is more of a strategic move to safeguard their operational flexibility and save on the huge compliance expense they would need to commit to, for being compliant with the DPDP Rules. By citing challenges in age verification, parental consent requirement, government’s access to data, data breach reporting, and cross-border transfers, these companies are attempting to influence regulations that could impose stricter accountability measures.
Concerns regarding the interference of local laws with international standards could arise, particularly for companies that operate in regions with stringent data protection, regulations, such as EU’s GDPR. Balancing the need for national security and privacy with the demands of global businesses will be a key challenge as India moves forward with these data localization requirements.
“While they argue for alignment with global norms, the delay also gives them more time to adapt their business models and lobby for favorable provisions. Ultimately, this reflects a broader trend where large corporations seek to shape digital policies in ways that balance regulatory compliance with their commercial interests and have a lasting impact on their global digital trade relations,”
says Nazneen Ichhaporia, Partner, ANB Legal.
The penalties and liability exposures that may be faced due to non compliance of the DPDP Rules are significant, ranging up to 200 crores in case of certain violations. These would be another discouraging factor for the tech chance to push for delay.
One of the most contentious aspects of the DPDP Rules is the requirement for verifiable parental consent when processing children’s data. However, the DPDP Rules do not specify how to accurately verify relationships, as government-approved IDs in India do not link parents to children. This creates a critical gap, making the verification process cumbersome and impractical. Additionally, there is a significant risk of children falsifying their age to access digital services, particularly social media platforms.
“US-based companies face compliance hurdles as the rules require parental consent for those under 18 years, unlike COPPA’s threshold of 13 years of age, forcing costly system overhauls. Industries like gaming and social media, which thrive on quick onboarding, may see user engagement decline due to lengthy verification processes,”
says Navaneeta Kanjilal, Independent Legal Consultant.
Source: ET Legal World
