In February 2017, Whatsapp had announced its plans to introduce a UPI-based payments service in India. Since then, a number of developments have taken place with respect to the payments service, including a discussion on privacy concerns surrounding the application’s use of customer data. This post provides a timeline of all the developments that haveRead more
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Since 2016, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) has been making concerted efforts towards improving access to internet in the country. This post provides a chronological overview of the steps taken by TRAI in this direction: 1. July 2016: TRAI initiates discussions on public Wi-Fi in India 1.1 On 13th July 2016, theRead more
This article was first published in the Quint, here Over the past ten days, Indians have had to confront two incidents with serious ramifications for our privacy. One, the Prime Minister’s NaMo mobile app, collecting data from 22 features on users’ phones, was allegedly sharing user data with US based analytics company CleverTap without userRead more
The NBFC – Account Aggregator framework explained The Reserve Bank of India had issued the Non-Banking Financial Company – Account Aggregator (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016 (“the Directions”) on September 2, 2016. In this article, we highlight key provisions and takeaways. Who may be an account aggregator? A non-banking financial company (“NBFC”) may undertake the “businessRead more
On 9th August 2017, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper on Privacy, Security, and Ownership of the Data in the Telecom Sector (Consultation Paper) as a step towards developing a robust data protection framework to safeguard consumer interest. In order to address key data privacy and security issues, the TRAIRead more
The Changing Data Protection Regime in The EU: Why (and What) India Needs to Know The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), approved by the European Parliament on 14 April 2016, has caused a lot of flutter amongst anyone concerned with data protection and privacy regulations. The GDPR comes into force on 25 May 2018, replacingRead more
‘Beyond the Whitepaper’ – ICO marketing methods under the scanner The recent cease and desist order of the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in the matter of the Munchee Inc. initial coin offering, provides guidance on how regulators may view the promotional and marketing methods adopted by offerors while adjudicating the nature of tokens as ‘utility’Read more
TRA’s comments to the Civil Aviation Requirements for Operation of Civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Issued by the Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation The draft Civil Aviation Requirements released in November, 2017 provide the terms and conditions for the ownership and operation of UAs in India. The draft requirements are availableRead more
Recommendations by TRA for the regulation of virtual currency in India are available here. In brief, our recommendations are:- The Reserve Bank of India (the “Regulator”) should regulate the activities of intermediaries dealing with virtual currencies in order to ensure minimum financial risk and smooth operation of payments and settlements systems. The intermediaries enablingRead more
TRA’s comments on the TRAI’s consultation paper on Privacy, Security and Ownership of Data in the Telecom Sector The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) released a consultation paper on ‘Privacy, Security and Ownership of the Data in the Telecom Sector’ (“the Consultation Paper”) on 9th August, 2017. The Consultation Paper is availableRead more