DPDP for a transport undertakings (rail psus, metro, state road transport)

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?

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?

A notice must tell people, in plain words, what data you collect, why, how they can withdraw consent, how they can use their rights and how they can complain to the Data Protection Board. It has to stand on its own, separate from long terms and conditions, and be shown at the point where data is collected.

LPG booking, new connection forms, ticket counters and bill payment portals each need a notice.

Section 5 and Rule 3 ask for a notice that can be understood on its own, with an itemised list of the data and the purpose for each item. Data you already hold from before the Act also needs a notice, as soon as reasonably practicable. Section 5 · Rule 3 · Section 6 · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14

1. List every point where personal data comes in: forms, apps, counters, calls, emails, partner feeds.
2. Write one short notice per collection point, with the data items and purpose side by side.
3. Add how to withdraw consent, how to make a request and the DPO or contact person's details.
4. Offer the notice in English and in the languages your passengers actually use.
5. Keep each version with the date it went live.

• Screenshots or copies of the notice at each collection point, with dates
• Notice version history
• Translations, where used

• Hiding the notice inside terms and conditions
• One notice for everything, with no link between data items and purposes
• Forgetting old data collected before the Act

• When do we need consent, and when can we rely on a legitimate use?
• Someone withdraws consent. What has to stop, and how fast?
• Someone asks what data we hold about them. What do we send?

For every use of personal data you need one basis: consent, or one of the legitimate uses in Section 7, such as a legal duty, employment, a medical emergency, or data a person gave voluntarily for a specific purpose. Anything beyond what the person expects, such as marketing, profiling or sharing with partners, usually needs consent.

Supplying the service rests on the purpose consumers gave data for; marketing and partner offers need consent.

Section 4 allows processing only with consent or for a legitimate use. Section 6 sets what valid consent looks like. Section 7 lists the uses that need no consent. Section 4 · Section 6 · Section 7

1. List each purpose for which you use personal data.
2. Against each purpose, write the basis: consent or the exact clause of Section 7.
3. Where the basis is consent, check that it was asked separately, with a clear action and no pre-ticked box.
4. Stop or re-paper any purpose with no basis.
5. Review the list whenever a new product, campaign or system starts.

• Purpose and basis register
• Consent records with date, version and channel
• Legal sign-off on each legitimate use relied on

• Treating account terms as consent for marketing
• Bundling several purposes in one tick-box
• Relying on 'legitimate interest', which the Indian Act does not have

• What should our privacy notice say, and where must people see it?
• Someone withdraws consent. What has to stop, and how fast?
• Can we send offers to past customers and leads?

Send a summary of the personal data you hold about them and what you do with it, and the names of the other organisations you shared it with and what was shared. Check the person's identity first, log the request and keep a copy of your reply.

Consumers can ask who received their data: distributors, franchisees, payment partners.

Section 11 gives the right to a summary and the list of organisations it was shared with. Rule 14 asks you to publish how requests are made and to answer within the period you publish. Sections 11–14 · Rule 14 · Section 8(9)–(10) · Rules 9, 14

1. Log the request in one register the day it arrives.
2. Verify identity using details you already hold.
3. Search every system, including vendors' copies.
4. Write a plain summary: what data, why it is used, who received it.
5. Send it, and file the request, search notes and reply.

• Request register
• Search notes for each request
• Copy of each reply with date

• Sending raw database dumps
• Forgetting data held by vendors
• No identity check before sending

• How do we handle a privacy complaint within 90 days?
• Someone asks us to delete their data. Must we?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?

Publish one clear way to complain, log every complaint, give it an owner and reply within the period you publish, never more than 90 days. People can go to the Data Protection Board only after using your process, so a good process keeps most matters with you.

Complaints come through call centres, portals and CPGRAMS. Tag the data ones.

Section 8(10) requires a working grievance process. Rule 14(3) caps the reply time at 90 days. Section 13 says people must use your process before approaching the Board. Section 8(9)–(10) · Rules 9, 14 · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14 · Sections 18–26

1. Publish one contact for privacy complaints on your website, app and notices.
2. Log each complaint with the date, channel and a named owner.
3. Acknowledge within a few days, and set an internal target well under 90 days.
4. Find and fix the cause, not just the single case.
5. Reply in writing and close the entry with the date.

• Complaint register with dates
• Replies sent
• Monthly summary to management

• Mixing privacy complaints into general complaints with no tag
• No owner, so nobody counts the days
• Closing a complaint without fixing the cause

• Someone asks what data we hold about them. What do we send?
• Someone asks us to delete their data. Must we?
• Someone withdraws consent. What has to stop, and how fast?