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The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is conducting the first stakeholder consultation meeting on the Digital India Bill, which would replace the 23-year-old Information Technology Act of 2000, in Bengaluru on Thursday.

The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, will be in Bengaluru today to meet industry representatives, lawyers, intermediaries, and consumer groups to discuss the principles the proposed law will be based on and invite their inputs.

On Wednesday, Rajeev tweeted the details of the programme.

“The minister will hold a consultation on the soon-to-be introduced Digital India Bill – a future-ready legislation that aims to replace the existing IT Act and provide a strong framework for India’s Techade. These consultations are a part of the Digital India Dialogues to develop a consultative approach to law and policy making,” a statement from MeitY said.

A report by The Economic Times stated that the upcoming Bill would also propose a regulator for the digital space and specify penal consequences for flouting rules. Emerging arenas such as blockchain and metaverse will also be governed under the Bill, officials have said in the past. They said the Bill might contain provisions to protect the non-personal data of citizens and aspects of citizens’ data portability would be also taken into account.