Section 42: Power to amend Schedule

Section 42 gives the Central Government the power to change the Schedule of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The Schedule is the part of the law that lists the financial penalties for breaking different rules. The government can make these changes simply by issuing a public notice, known as a notification. However, there is a strict limit on how much the government can increase the fines. The Central Government cannot raise any penalty in the Schedule to more than double the amount that was originally written when the Act was first passed. Once the government issues a notification to change the Schedule, the new rules take effect immediately on the date of that notification. From that day forward, the updated Schedule is treated exactly as if it were written into the original law.

Key points

• The Central Government can change the Schedule of the Act by issuing a notification (1).
• The government cannot increase any penalty to more than twice its original amount (1).
• Any change to the Schedule takes effect immediately on the date the notification is issued (2).
• An amended Schedule has the same legal force as if it were enacted in the original Act (2).

Common misreadings

• People might think the government can increase penalties by any amount, but the law strictly caps increases at twice the original penalty.
• People might assume changes to the Schedule require a new law to be passed by Parliament, but the Central Government can do it by notification.