DPDP for the Chief risk officer in PSUs and utilities

When distributors, dealers or franchisees handle consumer data for your service, they act for you, and you are responsible. Give them only what they need, add a data clause to agreements, train them, and check a sample every year. If a partner uses data for its own business, such as selling insurance, that is outside your purpose and must stop.

Section 8(1) and 8(2) cover processors. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 6

1. List partner types and numbers.
2. Issue a standard data clause.
3. Give masked views where possible.
4. Train partners.
5. Check samples yearly.

• Partner list
• Signed clauses
• Training and check records

• Full consumer exports to partners
• No clause
• No checks

• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Can we send offers to past customers and leads?
• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?

The DPDP Act uses the Article 12 meaning of 'State'. Many PSUs have been treated as the State by courts, depending on how deeply the government controls them. If you are, Section 7(b) and 7(c) and Section 17(4) may apply to public functions, but not automatically to commercial customer-facing work. Write an activity-wise legal view and keep the State provisions narrow.

Section 2(x) defines State by reference to Article 12. Sections 7(b), 7(c) and 17(4) apply to the State. Section 7 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List activities: public functions, schemes, commercial sales.
2. Get a legal view for each.
3. Apply full duties where unsure.
4. Record the view and get board approval.
5. Review if courts or MeitY clarify.

• Legal note
• Board approval

• Claiming State status for marketing
• No written view
• Assuming exemption from security

• When do we need consent, and when can we rely on a legitimate use?
• Someone asks us to delete their data. Must we?
• Do we need citizens' consent to run a scheme?

Turn each duty into a risk line with an owner, a control, evidence and a review date. Map controls you already run for your regulator, auditors or certifications, so the same evidence serves several purposes. Track vendor risk separately.

Add partner network lines.

The Act sets duties in Sections 5 to 12. A risk register shows management where each duty stands. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 10 · Rule 13

1. List the duties that apply to you.
2. For each, write the risk in plain words, the control and the owner.
3. Link existing controls and audits as evidence.
4. Rate likelihood and impact in your usual way.
5. Review every quarter with management.

• Risk register extract
• Linked evidence
• Quarterly review minutes

• One line saying 'DPDP compliance'
• No owners
• Evidence that is only a policy document

• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?
• Does ISO 27001 or NIST CSF cover our DPDP duties?

Contain it, then tell people. A reportable cyber incident goes to CERT-In within six hours of being noticed. Under DPDP, each affected person and the Data Protection Board must be told without delay, and the Board needs a detailed report within 72 hours. Sector regulators may have their own clock too.

A leaked consumer list from a distributor is your breach to report.

Section 8(6) and Rule 7 set the DPDP steps. The CERT-In Directions of 28 April 2022 set the six-hour report. A breach includes accidental disclosure and loss of access, not only hacking. Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. Name one incident lead and a back-up, with phone numbers that work at night.
2. Write the first-hour steps: isolate, preserve logs, tell the DPO and the incident lead.
3. Keep ready-made drafts for CERT-In, the regulator, the Board and affected people.
4. Decide in advance who signs off each message.
5. Rehearse once a year with the people who would actually be called.

• Incident plan with clocks
• Rehearsal record
• Incident log with times of each step

• Waiting to finish the investigation before telling anyone
• Treating a wrong email or a lost laptop as 'not a breach'
• Only IT knowing the plan

• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Does deletion have to reach backups and test copies?

You stay responsible for what your vendors do with personal data. The contract should say what data they get, for what purpose, the security they must keep, how fast they must tell you about an incident, that sub-contractors need your approval, and how data is returned or deleted at the end.

Distributors, franchisees, meter vendors, ticketing vendors and labour contractors.

Section 8(1) keeps responsibility with you. Section 8(2) allows a processor only under a valid contract. Rule 6 asks for security terms in that contract. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List vendors who receive or can see personal data.
2. Rank them by how much and how sensitive.
3. Add a data-protection schedule to each contract, starting with the top ten.
4. Ask for evidence: certificates, test results, deletion confirmations.
5. Review the top vendors every year.

• Vendor register
• Signed data-protection schedules
• Annual review notes

• Relying on the vendor's standard terms
• No incident-notice time
• No exit and deletion clause

• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?
• Can personal data be stored or accessed outside India?
• Does deletion have to reach backups and test copies?

Only the government can notify an organisation or a class of organisations as a Significant Data Fiduciary, based on the volume and sensitivity of data and the risk to people or the State. None had been notified when this page was last reviewed. Large holders of sensitive data should plan as if it could happen.

Large consumer-facing PSUs are natural candidates.

Section 10 and Rule 13 set the extra duties: a DPO in India, an independent data auditor, a yearly Data Protection Impact Assessment and audit, and checks on algorithms. Rule 13(4) allows the government to restrict some data from leaving India. Section 10 · Rule 13 · Section 16 · Rule 15

1. Estimate how many people's data you hold and how sensitive it is.
2. Note any public or security role your data plays.
3. If you are a likely candidate, run a trial impact assessment this year.
4. Identify an auditor you could appoint.
5. Watch MeitY notifications.

• Volume and sensitivity note
• Trial impact assessment
• Board note

• Assuming 'not notified' means 'never'
• Waiting for notification to start
• Thinking only tech companies will be notified

• Do we need a DPO?
• Can personal data be stored or accessed outside India?
• What should the board of directors ask management about DPDP?

Under DPDP, yes, unless the government restricts a country, and none had been restricted when this page was last reviewed. A sector rule can be stricter, for example RBI's rule that payment system data must be stored only in India. Remote support access from abroad also counts as data going outside India.

Check vendor support access from abroad, especially for smart-meter and ticketing platforms.

Section 16 allows transfers unless restricted, and keeps stricter sector laws in force. Rule 15 adds conditions on making data available to foreign states. Section 16 · Rule 15 · Section 8(1)–(2)

1. List where each system is hosted and where support teams log in from.
2. Check sector rules for localisation.
3. Put location and access terms in cloud and vendor contracts.
4. Keep the list current; new SaaS tools change it quietly.
5. Tell people in your notice if data goes abroad.

• Hosting and access-location list
• Contract clauses
• Sector rule check

• Forgetting email, CRM and helpdesk SaaS
• Ignoring overseas support logins
• Assuming 'Indian vendor' means 'data in India'

• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?
• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?

They help a great deal with the security part. ISO/IEC 27001 and NIST CSF 2.0 are good evidence of reasonable security safeguards. They do not cover notice, consent, rights, complaints or children's data. ISO/IEC 27701 adds privacy controls, but no certificate replaces the Act.

CEA guidelines and ISO 27001 cover much of Rule 6.

Section 8(5) and Rule 6 ask for reasonable security safeguards. A recognised standard is strong evidence of that duty, and only of that duty. Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. Map your current controls to Rule 6.
2. Add the DPDP-only items: notice, consent, rights, complaints, children, retention.
3. Use the same evidence for audits and for DPDP.
4. Include privacy in the scope of your next internal audit.
5. Consider ISO/IEC 27701 if clients ask for it.

• Control map
• Audit reports
• Gap list for DPDP-only items

• Treating a certificate as DPDP compliance
• Scope that leaves out the systems with the most personal data
• No owner for the non-security duties

• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• Who should be able to see personal data in our systems?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?

For most organisations it is a programme of six to nine months, not a single project. The heavy parts are the data inventory, vendor contracts, access control and the request process. Notices, the contact person and training are lighter. Starting now leaves time to fix what you find.

The partner network takes the longest.

Most duties under the DPDP Rules start on 13 May 2027. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(1)–(2) · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14

1. Month 1: name the owner, set a budget line, start the inventory.
2. Months 2 to 3: notices, consent records, contact person, request register.
3. Months 3 to 6: vendor contracts, access control, logs, retention schedule.
4. Months 6 to 8: breach rehearsal, training, internal review.
5. Month 9: management review with evidence.

• Programme plan with owners
• Monthly status with evidence
• Management minutes

• Leaving it to the last quarter
• Buying a tool before knowing the gaps
• Status colours with no evidence behind them

• Do we need a DPO?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?