Joint parliamentary committee gets an extension on data protection bill

Meenakshi Lekhi of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a motion seeking extension up to the monsoon session of parliament for the 30-member panel to submit its report. The panel has 19 members from Lok Sabha and nine from Rajya Sabha currently.

The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill was given an extension till the monsoon session to submit its report.

The JCP was constituted in Lok Sabha in December 2019 and was expected to submit its report in the budget session.

Meenakshi Lekhi of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a motion seeking extension up to the monsoon session of parliament for the 30-member panel to submit its report. Currently, there are two vacancies in the committee.

"That this House does extend up to the first week of monsoon session 2021 of Parliament the time for the presentation of the report of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019," the motion read. It was passed by a voice vote.
This is for the fourth time the committee's tenure has been extended, sources said. Earlier, it was given an extension on March 23, 2020, September 23, 2020, and February 9, 2021.

The panel has 19 members from Lok Sabha and nine from Rajya Sabha currently.

The Personal Data Protection Bill seeks to regulate the use of individual data by the government and private companies.

So far the committee has held meetings with Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, Airtel, Jio, Ola, Uber, Google, Paytm among other companies.