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Data law protects children

Flexible data law protects children from changing technology

By Ashima Obhan and Anubhav Chakravorty, Obhan & Associates
In August 2023, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (act), was passed into law. Before this, the collection, storage, usage, and other matters relating to personal data were regulated primarily by the Information...

Strength in numbers

The alliances among associations dedicated to the growth and development of corporate counsel in Asia seem to have become a numbers game. So, is everyone on the same side? Freny Patel reports Just three...
new data law shortcomings

Beyond the hype: Shortcomings of new data law

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra and Ada Shaharbanu, Spice Route Legal
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA), is expected to be implemented in the coming months. Businesses have begun to bring their data protection governance programmes into line with the legislation. However, a...
Demised investors now reportable

SEBI mandates reporting of demised investors

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated the reporting of investor demise by market participants and introduced a centralised reporting mechanism through know your customer (KYC) registration agencies. The SEBI’s circular spells...
State of the Legal Market survey New Trends

Glimpses of the Road Ahead

Our annual 'State of the Legal Market' survey finds that AI, specialist firms, discerning clients and the paired trends of fragmentation and consolidation are preoccupying the legal community. Katherine Abraham reports Big changes are afoot...
CLA joins hands with JSA to bolster services in India’s south-L

CLA joins hands with JSA to bolster services in India’s south

Chennai-based law firm Commercial Law Advisors (CLA) has merged with JSA, effective from 1 October 2023. This merger is set to improve JSA's service offerings in the broader south India region, in conjunction with its...
Emerald Law Madhavan Srivatsan

Madhavan Srivatsan brings corporate team to Emerald Law

Madhavan Srivatsan has joined Emerald Law Offices as a senior partner and has brought his team to bolster the corporate and M&A practice. “This collaboration with an industry leader represents a major milestone in our...
data even more personal

Data about to become even more personal

By Mathew Chacko and Aadya Misra, Spice Route Legal
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA), the new data law in India, will require businesses to evolve, and in all likelihood, restructure their data protection frameworks and user experience. While the law...
Issues Impacting India's Emerging Startup Ecosystem

Growing pains in startup crib

Turmoil within high-profile unicorns, a downturn in funding and an investor emphasis on profitability have resulted in a picture for startups that is not so rosy. Indrajit Basu reports Startups were called “the backbone of...
Influence marketing on investment decisionvideo

The influence marketing has on investment decisions

By Vandana Pai and Hardik Dave, Bharucha & Partners
Influencer marketing, before known as word-of-mouth marketing, is now a primary marketing strategy for many businesses. It targets audiences using individuals who have established a relationship of trust with those audiences and who initiate...
AI Act ethical implications regulation

Real intelligence must supervise AI and soon

By Ashima Obhan and Aparna Amnerkar, Obhan & Associates
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming our world. However, concerns have grown regarding its ethical implications and risks. The European Union (EU) has acted significantly by adopting the AI Act (act), a comprehensive regulatory framework...
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Full speed ahead

Foreign firms grab the reins to fuel India Inc’s rising ambitions. Vandana Chatlani reports The past year has been one of renewed optimism. India overtook the UK to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, with the...
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Upping the ante on phishing through AI – The TRAI directive

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra, Shambhavi Mishra and Ajeeth Srinivas, Spice Route Legal
Phishing misleads and tricks individuals into revealing personal or confidential information through deceptive emails or messages. Such information is then used for unlawful or harmful purposes, such as fraud or installing ransomware. Smishing, a...

Self-policing fintech

India’s banking regulator wants the fintech sector to form self-regulatory organisations, but diverse interests in the industry aren’t the only challenges in making this happen. Freny Patel reports India is home to one of the...

Fractional ownership – A piece of the action

Fractional ownership is a new buzz phrase in India's real estate market gaining popularity with retail investors looking for lucrative projects. Amit Aggarwal, a senior partner at SNG & Partners, and Devyani Dhawan, an...
AI in the legal field

Your next judge may be an algorithm

By Sapna Chaurasia, TMT Law Practice
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now a familiar term and is a part of our everyday lives. AI is behind applications performing tasks that once required human effort. Today, lawyers use AI for research, document...
CEPA boost India-UAE trade

Eyes on the Middle East

UAE trade pact is spearheading regional interest in India, writes Vandana Chatlani February 2023 was the first anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the United Arab Emirates...
security data protection online

Increased security and data protection coming online

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra, Shambhavi Mishra and Ajeeth Srinivas, Spice Route Legal
The telecommunications industry is highly competitive, with telecom players constantly trying to outstrip each other and conquer the market. The industry consists of a few telecom service providers (TSP) supported by technical service providers...
DIA draft consultation

Draft of DIA ready for consultation

The Ministry of State (MoS) for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has said the first draft of the Digital India Act (DIA) will be released in early June. IT executives were at the second...
modified SIPP scheme for startups

Modified SIPP scheme proves to be a boon for startups

By Manisha Singh and CR Jacob, LexOrbis
The progress made in the intellectual property (IP) regime during recent decades has been fuelled by the government’s many financial and support incentives, particularly those involving the IP of startups. One such initiative is...
Fundamental rights and internet gatekeepers – A new dawnvideo

Fundamental rights and internet gatekeepers – A new dawn

By Atmaja Tripathy, TMT Law Practice
Technology is acting as a disruptor across all spheres: social, economic, and legal. Constitutional rights jurisprudence has not been untouched by industrial revolution 4.0. Recent decisions of constitutional courts, worldwide, have arisen from or...
Best Top Indian Law Firms 2023

Indian Law Firm Awards 2023

Recognising and rewarding exceptional legal work. Katherine Abraham reports India’s legal industry is experiencing a surge in activity, driven by increased deal-flow and record-breaking IPOs. While the most recognised law firms continue to dominate on...
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Former Juris partner Neeraj Dubey launches own firm

Neeraj Dubey, a former partner at Juris Corp, has launched his own firm, The Valid Points Law Offices, which will set up offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Gurugram and associate offices across India. Its focus will be corporate and commercial advisory and...
india big tech regulation development

Developments in India’s big-tech regulation

By Modhulika Bose, P&A Law Offices
Big-tech regulation has gathered steam across the globe and India is no exception. While issues around data privacy and intermediary liability have long been a point of contention in this debate, active regulatory intervention...

Indian perspective on protecting children’s privacy

By Aadya Misra and Tanvi Chaturvedi, Spice Route Legal
As access to internet and technology is increasingly pervasive, children emerge as significant stakeholders in the digital economy. Unfortunately, existing and proposed legal frameworks are not designed to protect children’s interests and are even...
global privacy law

Navigating global privacy laws: Best practices

By Sreenidhi Srinivasan and Mayank Takawane, Ikigai Law
With privacy laws in rapid development around the world, businesses with global ambitions must implement an effective data strategy and improve ‘data hygiene’ within their organisations More than 100 countries around the world have privacy...
New draft rules for CETP plants

New draft rules for CETP plants

Draft rules for regulating common effluent treatment plants (CETP) were issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in January 2023. The rules seek to regulate the responsibilities of state governments and CETP...
India Business Law Journal

CCI in limbo

Competition regulator struggles amid M&A boom For India, 2022 continued to be a great year for M&A, with deal values soaring to USD119 billion as per data from Refinitiv – a 156% increase compared to...
Personalised advertising

Personalised advertising needs to be less personal

By Aadya Misra and Vishnu Naduvakkad, Spice Route Legal
Personalised advertising has become a tightly focused subject in the field of data protection and consumer protection. Large, data-driven companies leverage their access to consumers’ information, tailoring advertisements and marketing, and selling them personalised...
Staying-on-top-of-data-privacy-Lvideo

Staying on top of data privacy

In this edited extract from a roundtable hosted by India Business Law Journal and Ikigai Law, moderator Sreenidhi Srinivasan and a distinguished panel of global data privacy experts discuss how companies can create globally...

Deals of the year 2022

India Business Law Journal reveals the standout deals and disputes of 2022 and the law firms that showed their worth in successfully concluding them Despite concerns of a resurgence in covid-19 cases at the beginning...

In-house Counsel Awards 2022

India Business Law Journal reveals the achievements of the country’s leading in-house counsel and corporate legal teams who have been selected as this year’s winners. Katherine Abraham reports Individual AwardsTeam Awards As the In-House Counsel Awards 2023...
Government tightens grip on Big Tech

The big squeeze

Should India tighten its grip over international technology companies, or will this approach backfire and cause them to reconsider growth plans in India? Freny Patel reports India is entering 2023 with policy changes that could...
cookie use in Indiavideo

Cookie use in India: A legal vacuum

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra and Shambhavi Mishra, Spice Route Legal
Cookies are small files of code downloaded to the devices of individuals by the websites those persons visit. Cookies track visitors’ activity and experience personalisation and fall into two categories, first-party and third-party. The...
india digital currency

Cashing in on a digital currency

By Devyani Dhawan and Neha Pethe, SNG & Partners.
Throughout history, money has taken many different forms, finally developing into the most widely used, paper currency. During the past decade, money has further evolved into something previously thought impossible, cryptocurrency. The ongoing global...
Anand and Anand launches digital group

Anand and Anand launches digital group in centenary year

Anand and Anand marks its centenary year in 2023 with the establishment of the firm’s new vertical, the digital group, which will be led by former MeitY director Dr Ajai Garg. “After working for 21...
video

Moving from dot-com courts to bot courts

By Shilpa Gamnani and Harsh Buch, TMT Law Practice
Good law needs good judges. Good judges closely examine their powers to see whether they are able to provide a remedy for a clear wrong. A good judge is also imaginative, able to see...
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Employees may soon get better privacy protection

By Mathew Chacko and Aadya Misra, Spice Route Legal
Employers inevitably process large amounts of personal and sensitive information about employees. While most data are collected for standard business purposes, such as payroll and the provision of insurance, the pandemic has seen a...
India Business Law Journal

Caught in the crosshairs

Fierce campaign to tame online space The digital sphere has been firmly in the sights of the government. When the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, were announced last year,...
Global investment trendsvideo

Keymasters

As the world acknowledges the real threat of global recession, where and how a Company should invest has never been more challenging. General counsel hold the keys To unlocking opportunity, and more than ever...
Indian In-house counsels recognition

GCs fight for access

In 2022, it seems bizarre that in-house counsel may not carry a bar licence owing to an antiquated law that dates to the middle of last century. Freny Patel looks at the battle for...
India's problem with cybersecurity rules

Who’s listening?

Cybersecurity directions from the country’s computer emergency response body in effect since late September have been decried by the industry for overreach and compliance burdens. Is the outcry being heard? Indrajit Basu reports I ndia’s efforts...
India data protection law

Consent and security will underpin data protection

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra, Shambhavi Mishra and Ada Shaharbanu, Spice Route Legal
In November 2022, the government published a draft of its new data protection law, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 (DPDPB). The DPDPB’s predecessors were the subject of controversy, including concerns over localisation,...
India's pre-grant opposition process review

Time for pre-grant opposition process review

By Archana Shanker, Anand & Anand
A reassessment of opportunities and obstacles with pre-grant opposition under the Patents Act is well overdue for the benefit of innovation and the economy Historically, even before the pre-grant opposition procedure was introduced in the...
RBI on digital lending app

Lending apps under RBI scrutiny

India’s digital lending industry, which is expected to grow in worth to USD1.3 trillion by the end of the decade, has been subject to a clampdown by the central bank. The Reserve Bank of...
RBI on digital lending

Digital lending goes up; RBI cracks down

By Mathew Chacko, Aadya Misra and Shristi Kumar, Spice Route Legal
India’s vibrant digital lending sector has grown at an unprecedented rate, increasing from USD9 billion in 2009 to USD110 billion a decade later. Participants in the industry include banks and financial institutions regulated by...
India's electric vehicle regulationvideo

Electric dreams

There are obvious advantages to the adoption of electric vehicles, but a closer look reveals some key challenges holding the country back from making the switch. Chandu Gopal reports India has set an ambitious target...

Safe digital spaces may curtail existing freedoms

By Ashima Obhan and Shubhanshi Pohani, Obhan & Associates
Questions over whether the internet should be regulated and if so, how have vexed governments for years, with India being no different. In 2021, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)...
RBI on digital lending guidelines

RBI perhaps too suspicious of digital lending

By Sawant Singh and Aditya Bhargava, Phoenix Legal
Consistent with its customer-protection orientation, and its hawkish stance towards the fintech sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up a working group in January 2021 to evaluate “digital lending including lending through...

You’re hooked!

A new cyber scam is targeting top brands’ websites to sell fake dealerships and franchise offers. While the courts are helping by making such offences cognisable and non-bailable, brand owners must up the ante...
top foreign firms india

Bouncing back

As business and travel edge back to normal after the pandemic, which foreign law firms are leading the field with their India offerings? Vandana Chatlani finds out See earlier editions of this report F ollowing a swift...
RBI takes credit for curbing PPI financing

RBI takes credit for curbing PPI financing

By Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
On June 20, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued directions to all non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers that loading of PPIs through credit lines was not permitted (PPI credit circular). This...
Condition critical

Condition critical

A conflict has played out before several judicial forums over the fate of Future Retail, a company in grave health with creditors and two of the world’s richest men entangled in its fate. Freny...
Ethical challenges in the internet of bodiesvideo

Ethical challenges in the internet of bodies

By Bagmisikha Puhan and Siddhant Gupta, TMT Law Practice
In the wake of the merciless pandemic, preventive and predictive healthcare has rightly become the norm. Healthcare systems have undergone a complete overhaul in the past few years, moving the focus from illness to...
India Business Law Journal

Strength during adversity

Enduring challenges amid a perfect storm The country is in the midst of grappling with unfavourable circumstances such as high unemployment and high inflation. Together these can potentially become as disruptive as the pandemic, but...
India data protection plan

Price of protection

India's proposed data protection regulation demands data localisation and restricts cross-border transfers, promising economic benefits for the broader economy, but imposing big cost and logistical challenges on Indian and international companies, write K Satish...
Crystal gazing into the future of competition and digital marketsvideo

Crystal gazing into the future of competition and digital markets

By Atmaja Tripathy, TMT Law Practice
The rise in the use of digital platforms and emerging technology has forced competition regulators globally to keep up, innovate and widen their competition assessment tools. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is not...

Indian Law Firm Awards 2022

Discover our other annual awards Award In a celebration of hard work, ingenuity and excellence, India Business Law Journal reveals the winners of the 2022 Indian Law Firm Awards. Vandana Chatlani reports In the past 12...
Interoperability and data portability not market power busters

Interoperability and data portability not market power busters

By Karan Singh Chandhiok and Lagna Panda, Chandhiok & Mahajan
Earlier this year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) hosted a workshop on the startup ecosystem and competition. Views emerged that data portability and interoperability can address market power concerns in digital markets. While...
Fintech is the future of inclusive finance

Fintech is the future of inclusive finance

By Bagmisikha Puhan and Siddhant Gupta, TMT Law Practice
The banking and financial services sector has long been a pioneer and centre of technological innovation, providing end-user banking and financial services. Fintech has emerged as a direct competitor to legacy banking, but has...
EU’s Digital Markets Act and implications for Big Tech Ashima Obhan Samridhi Poddar

EU’s Digital Markets Act and implications for Big Tech

By Ashima Obhan and Samridhi Poddar, Obhan & Associates
According to a press statement issued on 25 March, the European Council and the European Parliament have struck a provisional political agreement on the Digital Markets Act (DMA act). The act classifies platforms in...
Kapur, Chandy re-elected as JSA joint managing partners

Kapur, Chandy re-elected as JSA joint managing partners

Amit Kapur and Vivek Chandy are re-elected joint managing partners of JSA for another three-year term. The firm reconstituted its executive committee with Kapur, Dina Wadia, Rupinder Malik, Varghese Thomas and Chandy as the members....
India Business Law Journal

Cryptic question

Viable alternative or Dutch tulip? There should be little surprise that India continues to struggle with the knotty problem that is virtual currencies, which according to a May 2020 ruling of the Supreme Court, “elude...
Daoism: a new kind of faith

DAOism: a new kind of faith

The idea for a decentralised autonomous organisation, where the rules are baked into its code with no management structure or board of directors, has emerged with the rise of blockchain technology. Andrew Godwin examines...
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Between rocks & hard places

By Pan Cong, SHAREit Group
In the face of data requests from law enforcement agencies, conflicting legal requirements from home country and foreign jurisdictions are putting multinational tech companies in an unprecedented dilemma. How should they respond? Pan Cong,...
Plugging-into-a-more-efficient-power-sector

Power markets may finally spark into life

By Abhishek Tripathi and Shivika Agarwal, Sarthak Advocates & Solicitors
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (commission) in its continuing efforts to create a robust power market has introduced the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Power Market) Regulations, 2021 (PMR), replacing the 2010 regulations. A large number...
Growing a conscience

Growing a conscience

Current events dictate that ESG considerations are increasing in importance for companies as well as regulators, warns Ashutosh Senger, lead counsel at Florence Capital The challenges faced by societies due to the pandemic and the...
Meta ready to throw in towel

Meta ready to throw in towel

By Freny Patel
Facebook’s parent has threatened to call it quits in India as it fears the data privacy law could force it to modify or cease existing business practices. On 2 February, Meta Platform expressed concerns in...
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Role of SEBI in ‘year of IPOs’

By Manshoor Nazki, IndusLaw
The capital markets regulator has facilitated IPOs in 2021, but has also sought to deter large shareholders from using them as an avenue for quick company exits, writes Manshoor Nazki The year 2021 has undoubtedly been...
States-can-regulate-direct-selling-companies-L2

States can regulate direct selling companies

The government of India has notified the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021, to regulate direct selling companies and network marketing operations in the country. With the new rules, the government seeks to regulate the...
Hazards of exporting dual-use technology Essenese Obhan

Hazards of exporting dual-use technology

By Essenese Obhan, Obhan & Associates
Duct tape, digital photography, microwaves, night vision equipment, even sanitary napkins will be known to trivia enthusiasts as items that were first military inventions before they were adopted for civilian use. Military inventions are...
Indian-path-to-carbon-neutrality-L2video

India’s path to carbon neutrality

By Priti Suri and Arya Tripathy, PSA
The absence of a climate change law leaves pressing concerns for India’s achievement of emission reduction goals, write Priti Suri and Arya Tripathy India is moving fast towards becoming the world’s most populous country, and...
Personal-Data-Protection-Bill-enables-data-flows-from-India-to-Singapore-L

Personal Data Protection Bill enables data flows from India to Singapore

By Arun S Prabhu, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
India has waited many years for its general data protection legislation. This key legislation will regulate the data of over 1.4 billion people, impact businesses ranging from corner stores to conglomerates, and create what...
Failure-of-consensus-cropped-farm-laws-vision-L

Failure of consensus cropped farm laws vision

By Gautam Khurana, India Law Offices
Three farm acts introduced in 2020 as a market making programme were repealed last month after more than a year of agitation and confusion.   The main reform was the Farmers’ (Employment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance...
Arjun-Goswami-Cyril-Amarchand-Mangaldas-oct2021

India-Singapore corridor bridges fintech regulatory hurdles

By Arjun Goswami, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
The fourth industrial revolution has allowed fintech companies to transform the delivery of financial services through technology and innovation-driven efficiency and inclusive access. Technology has automated financial services and products as well as processes...
Setting-the-line-between-innovation-and-privacy-L

Setting the line between innovation and privacy

By Seerat Bhutani and Ashima Obhan, Obhan & Associates
Popular movies envisage futures in which advanced artificial intelligence (AI) becomes too powerful, enslaving and controlling humans. While the idea of world domination by AI may be far-fetched, the increasing and unregulated use of...
Do lawyers have an increased responsibility in averting a climate catastrophe? Vandana Chatlani reports

Burning question

Do lawyers have an increased responsibility in averting a climate catastrophe? Vandana Chatlani reports In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body for assessing the science related to climate change, published...
India-IP-counsel-challenges-LexOrbis-r

Keeping up with IP

India’s IP regime is going through a tumultuous period with the abolition of the IP appellate board earlier this year, the emergence of new technologies, and challenges associated with covid-19 vaccines. We brought together...
Regulator-develops-blockchain-platform-for-security

Regulator develops blockchain platform for security

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is developing a security and covenant monitoring platform using distributed ledger technology (DLT), according to a 13 August circular by the market regulator. The system, to be...
Corporate and commercial e-interests yield to consumers, Manoj Kumar, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners

Corporate and commercial e-interests yield to consumers

By Manoj Kumar, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners
A new draft of the e-commerce rules was published in June 2021 and feedback is invited. The rules apply to all goods and services purchased or sold over electronic networks, including non-tangible products and...
Top foreign law firms in india 2021

Mapping global expertise

Top India-focused Law Firms 2007 Top India-focused Law Firms 2008 Top India-focused Law Firms 2009 Top India-focused Law Firms 2010 Top India-focused Law Firms 2011 Top India-focused Law Firms 2012 Top India-focused Law Firms 2013 Top India-focused Law Firms 2014 Top India-focused...
PSL Advocates opens in Bengaluru

PSL opens in Bengaluru

PSL Advocates has opened a new office at Gold Towers, 50 Residency Road in Bengaluru. Siddharth Jain, the firm’s co-founding partner, will move to the country’s IT capital to head the office. His practice...
Cabinet reshuffle delays data privacy law

Cabinet reshuffle delays data privacy law

The recent cabinet reshuffle that saw senior ministers leaving their posts will delay the country’s much-awaited data privacy law, legal experts have warned.  The government’s recent announcement saw the departures of: Minister of Law and...
Delays and inconsistent treatment reduce RERA’s effectiveness, Amaresh Kumar Singh, HSA Advocates

Delays and inconsistent treatment reduce RERA’s effectiveness

By Amaresh Kumar Singh, HSA Advocates
RERA, or the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (act) and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority established under it, aimed to balance the interests of the various stakeholders in the real estate ecosystem,...
RBI puts freeze on Mastercard issuances

RBI puts freeze on Mastercard issuances

Mastercard’s failure to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) directive to store payment data in the country has left private sector banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, RBL Bank and Yes Bank,...

Regulating e-commerce: Do we see oversight or an overdose?

By Karan Chandhiok and Lagna Panda, Chandhiok & Mahajan
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution recently proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 (rules). The rules came into force in 2020 and were framed under section 101(2)(zg) of the...
WhatsApp to close the shutters on privacy policy

WhatsApp shutters plan to enforce privacy update

Who would have imagined India, without a data privacy law, could make the Facebook-owned messaging service, WhatsApp, change its stance and adopt a more favourable approach to its privacy policy update? This is a...
top indian law firms 2021

Indian Law Firm Awards 2021

Discover our other annual awards Award Vandana Chatlani reports India has faced a terrible year battling the covid-19 pandemic. Companies and law firm offices shut shop. Homes were turned into work spaces, and lawyers relied on...

Call to action

What lawyers are doing to provide covid relief – and how you can help As India reels under a devastating second wave of covid-19, lawyers at domestic and international law firms are coming together to...
Policing-the-internet

Policing the internet

Recently released guidelines giving the government power over social media and news portals are being challenged in court. Freny Patel asks experts whether the new rules are a case of overreach The release of “draconian”...
Intellect Design Arena appoints new legal chief, K Satish Kumar

Intellect Design Arena appoints new legal chief

K Satish Kumar has joined Chennai-based fintech company Intellect Design Arena as its senior vice president and group chief legal officer. He departs from Ramco Systems, a software services provider, where he had been global...
Data protection becomes a competition issue, Avinash Amarnath and Prachi Agarwal, Chandhiok & Mahajan

Data protection becomes a competition issue

By Avinash Amarnath and Prachi Agarwal, Chandhiok & Mahajan
Advances in technology and digitisation have led to an increasing focus on the collection and storage of personal data. The collection, storage and use of such data as customers’ contact details and search preferences...
Security by design in digital payment controls, Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia and Vrinda Pareek, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Security by design in digital payment controls

By Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia and Vrinda Pareek, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
In February 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the RBI (Digital Payment Security Controls) Directions, 2021 (master directions). The trigger for these regulations was the exponential growth of digital payments and the...
Enthusiasm for healthcare offers new practice opportunities, Arjun Krishnamoorthy, J Sagar Associates

Enthusiasm for healthcare offers new practice opportunities

By Arjun Krishnamoorthy, J Sagar Associates
The covid-19 pandemic has seen changes in practices across the world, ranging from frequent hand washing to revisions of long standing standard contractual clauses. A notable change was in the government budget earlier this...
Will-raising-FDI-cap-attract-foreign-insurers

Insurance in bloom

The foreign ownership cap for the sector is set to be raised to 74%, but prospective investors are waiting for details of yet-to-be announced 'safeguards' before they have a flutter. Freny Patel reports The proposal...
Disincentives to foreign investment in non-personal data, Asim Abbas and John Simte, L&L Partners

Disincentives to foreign investment in non-personal data

By Asim Abbas and John Simte, L&L Partners
Global internet-based companies have invested greatly in systems that allow them to harvest and monetise non-personal data. Their incentives to do so in India may soon be reduced. The Committee of Experts on Non-Personal...
WhatsApp case shows need for data privacy law

WhatsApp case shows need for data privacy law

The Supreme Court may have come down heavily on WhatsApp over the proposed change in its privacy policy, but uncertainty brews as to whether the top court can force the US messaging service to reverse...
Competition watchdog breaks data privacy silence

Competition watchdog breaks data privacy silence

India’s antitrust authority has finally broken its silence and identified the relationship between data privacy and competition. But although the market study on the telecommunications industry touched upon data privacy issues, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fell short...
Harsh Aggarwal is general manager of legal, and Roma Arora is the joint general manager of legal at Havells

Eyes on the spies

General counsel need to keep a close eye out for unscrupulous anti-counterfeit agencies looking to take their companies for a ride. By Harsh Aggarwal and Roma Arora The trade in counterfeit and pirated goods worldwide...
Manchanda joins partnership at Chandhiok

Manchanda joins partnership at Chandhiok

Deeksha Manchanda has been inducted into the partnership of Chandhiok & Mahajan. Previously a counsel at the firm working in the competition and regulatory practice areas, Manchanda specializes in advising clients on all aspects of...
Digital lending in India- Move towards regulation, Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia and Vrinda Pareek, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

Digital lending in India: Move towards regulation

By Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia and Vrinda Pareek, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
On 15 January 2021, the Delhi High Court directed the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to respond to a writ petition filed by Dharanidhar Karimojji (petition) seeking the regulation of digital...
Draft drops mandatory non-personal data sharing

Draft drops mandatory non-personal data sharing

Sense seems to have prevailed as the revised draft of the non-personal data report has dropped the mandatory sharing of non-personal data, at least between private entities, which could result in a conflict with intellectual...
India law firms- deals of the year 2020video

Deals of the Year

Deals of the year 2022 Deals of the year 2021 Deals of the year 2019 Deals of the year 2018 Deals of the year 2017 Deals of the year 2016 Deals of the year 2015 Deals of...

Protection for fluid trademarks in India

In order to keep up with a changing world, some companies have used branding and advertising of fluid trademarks (i.e., logos), trade dress in particular. Brand owners have done this during covid-19, trying to...
Policy tweak

Policy tweak

The Draft Data Centre Policy 2020 is much needed for the digital economy, but could benefit from single window clearance, economic incentives and protections against misuse of data, writes PM Devaiah   The Draft Data...
TMT specialist returns to L&L

TMT specialist returns to L&L

L&L Partners has hired Asim Abbas as a partner in the firm’s New Delhi office. Abbas specializes in technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) and has domain expertise in TMT-related assignments relating to policy, regulatory, contractual, compliance...
Vineetha MG (left) is a partner and Pratik Patnaik is a senior associate at Samvad Partners

How proposed data reform will affect venture capital

By Vineetha MG and Pratik Patnaik, Samvad Partners
The committee studying non-personal data and data governance frameworks has issued a draft report for consultation. The report particularly affects digital businesses including fintech and payment service providers, as it proposes a new regime...
labour law

Will it work?

The government is working to implement newly codified labour laws, but how will they fare in a transformed working environment? Ragini Rastogi reports With the new labour codes having received presidential assent, 29 labour laws...
law firms crisi point

Crisis point

Enduring one of the most challenging periods in their lives, lawyers tell India Business Law Journal how their firms have been managing and how the violent disruption of the pandemic is forcing change. Gautam...
Nitin Mittal, General counsel,Signify, pandemic

A metamorphosis

The disruptive effects of the pandemic have prompted in-house counsel to evolve or be rendered irrelevant, writes Nitin Mittal There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on...
law firm partner exit retention India business law journal

Greener pastures

What is the best way for a law firm to manage the exit of a star partner? Six senior lawyers share their views with Vandana Chatlani With the global economy firmly in the grip of...
Mishi Choudhary is founder and legal director at Software Freedom Law Centre. India’s TikTok ban and need for privacy legislation

Pulling the plug

In the aftermath of the TikTok ban Mishi Choudhary, the founder of Software Freedom Law Centre (India), says the government must enact pro-privacy legislation that protects private data from tech companies, regardless of their...
international law firm in india 2020

A cut above the rest

Top India-focused Law Firms 2007 Top India-focused Law Firms 2008 Top India-focused Law Firms 2009 Top India-focused Law Firms 2010 Top India-focused Law Firms 2011 Top India-focused Law Firms 2012 Top India-focused Law Firms 2013 Top India-focused Law Firms 2014 Top India-focused...
data

Carlyle continues India investment with Nxtra stake

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and L&L Partners advised entities within the Carlyle Group when it agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Bharti Airtel's data centre arm, Nxtra Data. Bharti Airtel, which will retain the remaining...
privacy

Are you being watched?

Governments adopting trace-and-track apps to prevent the spread of the pandemic have raised questions about the ‘right balance’ between pandemic response and privacy considerations. James Nunn-Price and Manish Sehgal set out the risks and...
contracts

Managing outsourcing contracts

Outsourcing companies face severe operational challenges under the pandemic and understanding the impact of the force majeure clause and the doctrine of frustration is important in determining recourse for parties. Arijita Kakati and Aparna...
India

Indian Law Firm Awards 2020

Indian Law Firm Awards 2023 Indian Law Firm Awards 2022 Indian Law Firm Awards 2021 Indian Law Firm Awards 2019 Indian Law Firm Awards 2018 Indian Law Firm Awards 2017 Indian Law Firm Awards 2016 Indian Law Firm Awards 2015 Indian Law...
COVID-19

How COVID-19 affects personal health data

By Deeksha Manchanda, Chandhiok & Mahajan
Governments and civil societies worldwide are making dramatic efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. In India, notices have been placed outside the homes of people under quarantine or with the names of those...
internet

India unplugged

As the country grapples with the dual realities of Digital India and being the ‘internet shutdown capital of the world’, Amar Sundram analyses a recent Supreme Court judgment challenging blackout actions in Kashmir. The Narendra...
sandbox

The curious case of the privacy sandbox

By Lagna Panda, Chandhiok & Mahajan
In December 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (PDP bill), was introduced in parliament and was then referred to a joint parliamentary committee for review. Compared to the 2018 version, the PDP bill...

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