Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MEITY”) notifies Digital Personal Data Protection (“DPDP”) Rules, enforcement timelines and formation of the Board.
On 14.11.2025, the MEITY notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) and established the Data Protection Board of India (“DPB”) to operationalize the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDPA”).
Key Takeaways:
- The DPDP Rules give full effect to the DPDPA and set out a clear framework to safeguard personal data in the digital economy.
- The DPDP Rules introduce an eighteen (18) month period for phased compliance for organizations to adjust their system and adopt responsible data practices.
- The notice provided to the Data Principal by the Data Fiduciary has to be in a clear and plain language to enable DP to give specific and informed consent for processing their personal data.
- Consent must be informed, specific, and voluntary. Consent must be obtained before processing, and individuals must be given easy means to withdraw consent, exercise their rights, or lodge grievances.
- Any person aggrieved by an order or direction of the DPB can prefer an appeal before the Appellate Authority. The Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure and shall function as a digital office.
- The DPB shall consist of four (4) members with the head office at National Capital Region of India.
Government Implements Consolidated Labour Codes to Transform Compliance, Social Security & Worker Rights.
The Ministry of Labour & Employment on 21.11.2025 brought into force four consolidated labour codes, replacing 29 existing central labour laws. The four codes now in effect are the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
Key Takeaways:
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 extends to all workers including gig and platform workers to get social security coverage. All the workers will get PF, ESIC, Insurance and other social security benefits.
- Under the Code on Wages, 2019, all workers are entitled to receive a statutory right minimum wage payment.
- Workplace safety, health and working-conditions standards are now uniform and strengthened: clear norms on working hours (maximum 8 hours/day, 48 hours/week), overtime only with consent (paid at double rate), employer-provided facilities, safety and welfare measures are mandated.
- Women are permitted to work at night and in all types of work across all establishments, subject to their consent and required safety measures.
- There is a single National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board of tripartite nature and has representation from trade unions, employer associations, and State Governments to advise Central Govt. on standards, regulations etc. for factory, mine, dock work, bidi & cigar, building or other construction work etc.
- ESIC coverage and benefits are extended Pan-India, voluntary for establishments with fewer than ten (10) employees and mandatory for establishments with even one (1) employee engaged in hazardous processes.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) amends Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014.
The MCA has notified the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Amendment Rules, 2025 (“Amendment Rules”) vide notification no. G.S.R. 811(E) dated 03.11.2025. The Amendment Rules substitute Rule 11(2) of the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014 which deal with loan and investment by a company under Section 186 of the Companies Act, 2013.
Key Takeaways:
1. The Amendment Rule defines that for Non-Banking Finance Companies (“NBFCs”) registered with the RBI, “business of financing industrial enterprises” includes giving loans or providing guarantees/security for loan repayment as part of their ordinary course of business.
2. It also covers Finance Companies registered under IFSCA: activities specified under Regulation 5(1)(ii)(a) or 5(1)(ii)(e) of the IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021 – when undertaken in the ordinary course — as eligible under this definition.
3. This clarification removes ambiguity around application of Section 186 restrictions (on inter-corporate loans, investments, guarantees/security) for the covered entities — providing them operational leeway for routine financing, guarantee or lending activities.
4. For corporate borrowers/investee companies, the amendment may ease access to loans, guarantees or credit-support structures from NBFCs and IFSCA-registered finance firms, potentially improving credit availability in industrial or corporate sectors.
5. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) moves to Link Unified Payments Interface (“UPI”) with Europe’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (“TIPS”).
On 21.11.2025, the RBI worked with NPCI International Payments Ltd. (“NIPL”) and the European Central Bank (“ECB”) announced the start of the realisation phase to interlink India’s UPI payment infrastructure with Europe’s TIPS instant-payment system.
Key Takeaways:
- The UPI–TIPS interlinkage will allow users in India and the Euro Area to send and receive cross-border payments in real time, leveraging UPI’s widespread mobile-based infrastructure and TIPS’s instant-settlement backend.
- Technical and operational integration work will now begin aligning settlement mechanisms, risk-management protocols, compliance frameworks and transaction-flow rules between UPI/NIPL (India side) and ECB/TIPS (Euro Area side).
- For Indian diaspora, frequent travellers, exporters/importers and cross-border businesses, this could simplify payment flows significantly – removing need for multiple intermediaries and cutting remittance-costs/delays.
- The interlinkage represents a global push toward interoperability between domestic “fast-payment systems,” reducing reliance on legacy systems like SWIFT for low-value or retail-level cross-border transfers.
- The move is designed to make cross-border remittances – both retail (personal transfers) and business (trade, e-commerce, services) – cheaper, faster, and more transparent compared to traditional remittance or correspondent-banking routes.
