Data Protection Bill: JPC questions Paytm, Google officials over China investment, revenue

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Thursday, October 29, questioned representatives of Paytm and Google over the Data Protection Bill 2019 and issues related to privacy in India. According to reports, both companies were asked about the revenue they earn in India and the extent of Chinese investment in the companies.

The representatives of Paytm appeared before the 30-member committee at 11 am while the Google officials briefed the JPC at 3 pm. JPC is currently deliberating upon the various aspects of the Personal Data Protection Bill under the chairmanship of BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi. The committee aims to examine views from all stakeholders before the government tables the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 bill in the parliament. 

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Paytm and Google grilled over Chinese investment and revenue

During the questioning, JPC pooled ideas and detailed information from the representatives of the two companies concerning consumer's data protection. The panel questioned Paytm representatives about the quantum of Chinese investment in the company and told them that the servers on which customer data is stored should be in India. Top officials of Paytm submitted their suggestions on key aspects of the proposed legislation such as management and transfer abroad of sensitive personal data, according to PTI. Further members from the panel asked Paytm why the server on which data of its customers is collected and stored is abroad when it claims to be an Indian firm, the PTI report stated. The panel also raised questions about the possible conflict of interest considering that Paytm sells its own products on its e-commerce platform.

According to reports, Google was asked about the quantum of corporate tax they pay in India and the total revenue generated by Google products like Google Pay, YouTube. The officials have been asked to submit details in writing before the joint committee.

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JPC to question Reliance Jio next week along with others

Next week, JPC is going to call representatives of telecommunication companies Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and cab aggregator companies Ola and Uber. According to ANI sources, the representatives of Reliance Jio have been asked to appear before the JPC on November 4 while Ola and Uber representatives will be called before the parliamentary committee on November 5 and Bharti Airtel and Truecaller representatives will be called on November 6. Earlier, representatives of Twitter, Facebook and Amazon have submitted their representations before the JPC.

READ | Joint Committee summons tech giants to appear before panel to discuss Data Protection Bill

About the Data protection bill

The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, was introduced in Lok Sabha by Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on December 11, 2019. The bill seeks to provide for the protection of personal data of individuals and the establishment of a data protection authority for the same. The bill was later transferred to a joint select committee of both Houses of Parliament. The proposed law seeks a bar on storing and processing of personal data by entities without the explicit consent of an individual.

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(With Agency inputs)