LEGAL UPDATES FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, 2022

SPECIAL EVENTS
Corporate Whistle Blower Policy in India, December 08, 2022
The team at Ivy Law participated in a webinar on “Corporate Whistle Blower Policy in India”
organized by ASSOCHAM. The key highlights of the webinar were the importance of the
Companies Act, 2013 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) to put in place a
whistle blower policy with the aim to attain various benefits such as combating fraud,
avoiding reputational damage, minimising losses, raising awareness and creating open
culture. The webinar emphasized on how a strong policy framework is quintessential for
attaining a good corporate governance atmosphere. Further, the need to protect the rights of
the employees and directors who raise their voice against any malpractice or illegal act by
reviewing and revisiting the effectiveness of whistle blower policy from time to time was also
discussed exhaustively.

LEGAL UPDATES
1. The Bureau of Indian Standards (“BIS”) Publishes Standard for Online Consumer
Reviews
https://standardsbis.bsbedge.com/BIS_SearchStandard.aspx?Standard_Number=IS
%2019000&id=46298
BIS, on 5th December, 2022, has published Indian Standard IS 19000:2022, 'Online
Consumer Reviews - Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and
Publication' which provides requirements and recommendations for the principles and
methods for review administrators to apply in their collection, moderation and publication of
online consumer reviews. The standard is meant to protect consumer interest from fake and
deceptive reviews on electronic-commerce (“e-commerce”) platforms and provide ways to
'verify a review author’ by email, telephone, or text message to confirm the registration. The
standard is currently voluntary and non-binding on internet and e-commerce firms, however,
the Central Government (“CG”) ensured that they would be made mandatory if violations
continue.
2. Amid Growing Cyber Threats, CG Issues New Information Technology (“IT”)
Guidelines for Key Government Installations

https://www.surveyofindia.gov.in/documents/NATIONAL%20INFORMATION
%20SECURITY%20POLICY%20AND%20GUIDELINES.pdf

CG, on 13th December, 2022, has issued a standard operating protocol for all its employees
across various ministries and public sector units which will involve basic hygiene such as
switching off computers, signing out of emails and updating passwords After plugging all
technical glitches following a major cyberattack on one of the top Indian hospital, CG has
come out with a digital procedure concerning all important installations with the intent to not
just strengthen the safety firewall but to also secure servers with critical data. Further, all
those employees who do not adhere to the standard will face strict disciplinary action against
them.
3. CG Proposes to Curb Dubious E-Commerce Practices
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/newsletters/morning-dispatch/startups-laid-off-
18000-employees-in-2022-udaan-ola-oyo-saw-the-most-senior-level-exits/articleshow/
96556849.cms?showPage=share_5
As reported by the Economic Times, CG is planning to curb the dubious practices adopted by
various e-commerce platforms, also popularly known as dark patterns, wherein the user
interfaces are crafted to trick or manipulate users into making choices that are detrimental to
their interests. Dark patterns are unfair trade practice and a cause of concern as they become
more prevalent in ecommerce and therefore needs to be curbed.
4. CG to Set Up Appellate Panels to Redress Social Media Related Grievances
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/govt-to-set-up-appellate-panels-to-
redress-grievances-of-social-media-users/96357438?
utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=ettelecom_news_2022-12-
20&dt=2022-12-20&em=cGFyaW5hQGl2eS1sYXcuY29t
Following the amendments under the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines
and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, CG has proposed to set up appellate panels to
redress the grievances that the users may have against social media platforms on hosting
contentious content. Such appellate panels shall comprise of a chairperson and two whole-
time members. CG further stated that a user could be de-platformed only in instances which
pertain to the interest of the sovereignty, security, and integrity of India or if the content is
unlawful in nature.

5. Parliamentary Panel to Pitch for Greater Scrutiny of ‘Systematically Important’ Digital

Platforms

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/parliamentary-panel-for-greater-
scrutiny-of-systematically-important-digital-platforms/articleshow/96036858.cms

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance is preparing to pitch for identifying

“systematically important” digital platforms in order to place them under greater scrutiny and
impose restrictions on them from carrying out certain activities. These digital platforms will
further be required to make mandatory disclosures on regular basis. The panel is prepared to
suggest sweeping changes to the country’s competition framework including allowing for
‘ex-ante’ restrictions to prevent any anti-competitive practice and protect the consumers.
6. The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) Consider Deploying New Tools to
Check Anti-Competitive Practices
https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital-india/amid-rapidly-evolving-
digital-landscape-cci-looks-to-deploy-new-tools-to-check-anti-competitive-practices/
96020944
As reported by the Economic Times, amid rapidly changing and evolving digital landscape
that is posing new challenges for competition law enforcers and questioning the traditional
parameters of competition regulation, the CCI has requested fair-trade watchdogs to devise
new tools and develop innovative perspectives on the application of the existing instruments
in order to make sure that the anti-competitive practices are kept in check and enforced
decorously.
7. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (“MIB”) Urges Google, LLC (“Google”)
to Comply With Advisory Against Online Betting Advertisements
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/mib-asks-google-to-
comply-with-advisory-against-online-betting-ads/articleshow/96049389.cms?from=mdr
MIB has urged Google to comply with its advisory to refrain from publishing or broadcasting
advertisements of online betting platforms or any surrogate product depicting them, citing
that gambling in any form, be it online or offline, is illegal in India. MIB issued the letter to
Google after a violation of its previous advisory by the tech giant came to its notice. Various
online betting platforms were advertising themselves as professional sports blogs, sports
news websites, etc. while providing an indicative list of online betting platforms which were
using news for surrogate advertising.
8. Internet Firms Requests CG to Relax the Definition of Child in the Digital Personal
Data Protection Bill, 2022 (“PDP Bill”)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/social-platforms-flag-age-gating-
fears-in-meitys-it-rules-meet/articleshow/96064706.cms
As reported by the Economic Times, various social media and internet platforms have
expressed their concerns to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
(“MeitY”) regarding the definition of child in the PDP Bill wherein a child is defined as a
person who is below the age of 18. These platforms will have to seek verifiable parental
consent for processing any data for users below the age of 18 years and therefore seeking
relaxation on this age limit asserting that instead of safeguarding youngsters from the harms
of the internet, these restrictions may adversely impact their learning capabilities and growth
in crucial teenage years.
9. Significant Controls to CG Under the PDP Bill to Hit Investments in Data Centres
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/significant-controls-to-govt-under-data-
protection-bill-to-hit-investments-in-data-centres/96537816?
utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=ettelecom_news_2022-12-
28&dt=2022-12-28&em=cGFyaW5hQGl2eS1sYXcuY29t
As reported by the Economic Times, the PDP Bill has exempted CG notified data fiduciaries
from several compliance burdens such as provisions dealing with informing an individual
about the purpose for data collection, collection of children’s data, risk assessment around
public order and the appointment of data auditor, among other such exemptions. However,
these broad exemptions granted to executive arms of CG from PDP Bill's application could
make it harder for companies to invest in data centres and data processing activities in India.

10. MeitY, Google to Help Homegrown Startups Scale Their Application Businesses
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/meity-startup-hub-google-to-help-100-
homegrown-startups-scale-app-businesses/96227991?
utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=ettelecom_news_2022-12-
15&dt=2022-12-15&em=cGFyaW5hQGl2eS1sYXcuY29t
Meity Startup Hub has announced a collaboration with Google with the aim to guide early to
mid-stage homegrown startups under the Appscale Academy program, 2023 which will
include training application developers to build refined user-interface, develop ethical
practices to protect user data, bring efficiency in their business model and offer tips on
 monetisation strategies. They are further dialling up their efforts to increase participation
from startups beyond metro cities in India and will also be launching a multi-city roadshow
aiming to engage over 1,000 startups in various cities across India.

11. SEBI Questions Old Venture Capital Funds (“VCFs”) On Terms Extensions
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/now-sebi-quizzes-old-vc-funds-over-
terms-extensions/articleshow/96260077.cms?
utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NewsDigest&utm_content=T
ech&utm_term=2%20%20%20%20%20&ncode=63410566368b44f706211fbaf27873182501
1289d6bcd4da672a39836f517914abe633efcfb6d15ec672ce0ef349823cff8e1b75ce3abf1cd02
b9b9c29ed74f98dd1e4f4c298d6813437612887a8f924
SEBI has reportedly asked VCFs about their term extensions beyond their lifespan and has
further asked to share the number of extensions that have been taken for the various schemes,
the tenure of the schemes as stated in the private memorandum and the deadline for exiting
all investments. The lifespan of a VCF is typically 10 years. There are about 185 such old
VCFs which are registered under the erstwhile SEBI VCF Regulations, 1996.These entities
are required to share the information with SEBI’s supervision, enforcement and compliance
division for alternative investment funds and foreign portfolio investors.
12. CG: Employees Can’t Take Up Work That Is Against Company Interests
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/moonlighting-staff-
cant-take-up-work-thats-against-companys-interests-says-govt/articleshow/96356623.cms?
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ews&utm_term=2%20%20%20%20%20&ncode=63410566368b44f706211fbaf2787318250
11289d6bcd4da672a39836f517914abe633efcfb6d15ec672ce0ef349823c549144c8f82cd0ca7
66fcf8b7985e84331a45215b8d5cd5e66dc8794c56508f1
As the debate rages over the legality of moonlighting in IT sector, CG, while quoting existing
industrial laws, clarified that the workers cannot take up any extra work that could be against
the interests of their employers. As per Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, a
workman shall not at any time work against the interest of the industrial establishment in
which he is employed and shall not take any employment in addition to his job in the
establishment which may adversely affect the interests of the employer. While existing labour
laws in India prohibit dual employment for factory workers, there is no legal framework at
present for moonlighting by employees working in IT companies.