SAMACHAR - JANUARY 2022       IAMAI Statement on Joint Parliamentary Committee Report on Personal Data Protection Although enthused at the prospect of a holistic and progressive data protection regime in India, IAMAI mentioned certain recommendations of the parliamentary committee on data protection bill such as social media intermediaries could become publishers in certain circumstances and a few aspects of data localisation norms changes the original structure of the Bill substantially. The report of the parliamentary committee currently encompasses non-personal data within the personal data protection bill which is contrary to the recommendations of the expert committee appointed by MEITY to develop a framework for non-personal data governance, IAMAI said in a statement. IAMAI further said that the requirement on DPA to consult the Central Government before issuing any approvals or decisions on cross-border data flows would create an incredibly slow and cumbersome process for decisions and would mitigate the autonomy and efficiency of a specialised body such as the DPA. At present, IAMAI members are further evaluating the report by the Joint Parliamentary Committee [JPC] on PDP submitted to the Parliament on December 16, 2021.     Pixels | 14 December 2021| Virtual Digital Entertainment Sector Sees Phenomenal Growth; Self-classification Under Digital Media Ethics Code to happen in Right Spirit: Vikram Sahay The digital entertainment sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth and has been a source of direct and indirect employment, however, it is now the responsibility of everyone in the industry to ensure self-classification happens in right spirit under the Digital Media Ethics Code, Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said at Pixels. "Consumers are curious whether the self-classification rule will be able to maintain the level of seriousness and discipline in content creation. We are of the view that the content creators and producers are mature enough and have accepted it in the right spirit. It is now the responsibility of everyone in the industry to ensure this self-classification happens in letter and spirit. There should not be any cause of grievances on account of the fact that it is self-classification rather than pre-certification," he said at the digital entertainment conference organised by IAMAI. The Digital Media Ethics Code was notified in the month of February last year. The rules prescribed a framework to empower consumers to make informed viewing choices and also put in place a tiered grievance redressal mechanism. The virtual conference Pixels deliberated upon the business and technology side of the digital entertainment sector with respect to OTT platforms, production houses and content distributors. The summit addressed the challenges in creating and monetising quality video content and explores how to encourage creativity and diversity in a responsible way.     No case has gone to tier-III so far for Digital Media Ethics Code violation under IT Rules 2021: Justice Sikri The three-tier enforcement mechanism for handling user grievances and complaints for violating the Digital Media Code of Ethics under the IT Rules 2021, has been followed appropriately and no case has gone to tier-III level, Former Supreme Court Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri said at Pixels. Justice Sikri, who is also the Chairperson of IAMAI's Grievance Redressal Board (GRB), formed as a part of the Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council (DPCGC), said: "All complaints directly addressed to MIB/Committee (Level III) should be pushed by the Committee, to be addressed by Level-I and then by Level-II before being taken by Level-III. The exercise of adjudicatory powers by executive branch of the Government if not done judiciously will jeopardize the freedom of the digital entertainment in India." Shri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce (I&C) Department & Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITE&C), Government of Telangana, mentioned the immense potential of the digital entertainment sector. He mentioned that the Telangana government is looking to strengthen infrastructure for the sector. "We are setting up a facility of 1.4 million square feet facility in Hyderabad called Image Tower, which would be a hub of animation, VFX. We are confident that once the Image Tower is up and running this would be the new face of Hyderabad." The theme of the conference was 'Digital Entertainment - Reaching a New Peak'. Over 700 delegates participated in the event.     D2C Founders' Exclusive Meet | 17 – 19 December | Leela, Goa IAMAI organised a three-day exclusive D2C Founders' Meet to bring D2C brands under one roof for cross-pollination of ideas and understand the techniques of growing in the D2C sector. Over the three days, the participants experienced many engaging activities like sessions by Digital Enablers, Leadership Sessions by VCs, Team Bonding Activity, Gala Dinner, Theme Parties. This was the first edition of the founders' meet. It was an exclusive format for networking and engaging the leaders of the space with the sole purpose of understanding how to create opportunities for innovation, growth, and the challenges in the community. The USP of this meet was its exclusivity which was attained by restricting it to founders, co-founders. Rajiv Sheth, Founder & CEO, All Good Scents; Aditya Khanna, Co-Founder, Assembly Luggage; Mohit Garg, Co-Founder, Assembly Luggage; Rohit Bathla, Founder & CEO, Bathla Ladders; Aakash Anand, Founder, Bella Vita Organic; Saahil Nayar, Co-Founder, Bella Vita Organic; Prabhkiran Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, Bewakoof Brands were some of the participants at the meet.     Digital Money 2021 | 01 & 02 December 2021| Virtual Backed by Robust Digital Payments Ecosystem, Democratisation of Credit to Be Next Big Wave in India: Mastercard Collaboration between fintech and banks will help unleash democratisation of credit in the country, leveraged by a robust digital payments' ecosystem, Nikhil Sahni, Division President, South Asia & Country Corporate Officer, India, Mastercard, said during the inaugural session of Digital Money Conference, organised by Payments Council of India.  "Today, there is the availability of data and systems that we have created in digital payments, allow you to pull out money so you can actually structure loans. It is time for structuring the smallest size retail loans with the kind and quality of data is available and this requires a partnership between fintech and banks," he said. At the two-day summit, held on 1&2 December 2021, Vishwas Patel, Chairman, Payments Council of India, highlighted: "The adult population of India is digitally empowered with 65 million users transacting with credit cards, 900 million using debit cards, digital wallets, UPI and other new age payment options that have caused major disruptions and transformation in the sector. Rupay, Mastercard, Visa have played a very pivotal in fulfilling the needs of robust payments and settlements infrastructure in the country. Innovation has been the key driver in the digital payments space." About 2500 delegates participate at the summit. It saw about 30 sessions and over 100 speakers from across the globe. The event, with the central theme 'Innovation to Scale', discussed how innovation enables payments stakeholders to organically scale up the digital payments while ensuring that existing operations perform consistently and sustainably. The key speakers were - Shri P. Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India; Dr. Saurabh Garg, CEO, UIDAI; Shri K. Vijayakumar, General Manager, DPSS, RBI; Abhijit Bose, Head of India, WhatsApp; Christophe Mariette, Chairman, Lyra India, among others.     Fintech Panorama | 03-05 December 2021| Virtual The Payments Council of India (PCI) organised its first-ever residential Immersion Program - 'Fintech Panorama' from December 3 - 5th 2021. The primary objective of the event was to provide impetus to emerging trends for the future of financial products in India. The first edition of the Fintech Panorama focussed on the payments ecosystem and to facilitate collaboration between the regulatory and the industry fraternity. In course of the two-day event, various first-hand perspectives on regulatory and policy developments were exchanged, attendees also received counsel on various ancillary topics across the business.     Meeting with RBI on PPI Master Directions The Payments Council of India (PCI) met with senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India to discuss industry concerns on the revised PPI Master Directions. The discussions covered broad areas including the introduction of requirement of two-factor authentication, implementation of interoperability provisions, issuance of PPIs by agents, and expansion of the definition of SMS to include other channels.     Submission to RBI on Working Group of Digital Lending Pursuant to the constitution of the Reserve Bank of India's Working Group (WG) on digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps, the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), shared a detailed industry feedback to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for further consideration of the Working Group. The feedback focussed on RBI's vision on enhancing customer protection and making the digital lending ecosystem safe and sound while encouraging innovation.