DPDPA Penalties 2023: How Much Can Your Indian Business Be Fined?
DPDPA 2023 penalties can reach ₹250 crore per violation. This guide explains every penalty tier, what triggers them, real examples, and how Indian businesses can avoid fines using a consent management platform.
DPDPA Penalties 2023: Complete Guide for Indian Businesses
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023 introduced one of the most significant penalty frameworks for data privacy violations in India's history. The maximum fine is ₹250 crore (approximately $30 million USD) per violation — not a total cap, per violation.
Understanding what triggers penalties, and how to avoid them, is now a board-level concern for every Indian business.
What are the DPDPA penalties?
The DPDPA 2023 Schedule outlines six penalty tiers based on the nature and severity of the violation:
| Violation | Maximum Penalty |
|---|---|
| Breach of children's data obligations (Section 9) | ₹200 crore |
| Failure to implement adequate security safeguards (Section 8) | ₹250 crore |
| Failure to notify the Data Protection Board of a data breach | ₹200 crore |
| Non-compliance by Significant Data Fiduciaries (SDFs) | ₹150 crore |
| Breach of data principal rights (Section 11–14) | ₹10,000 per instance |
| Breach of any other provision of the Act | ₹50 crore |
Key fact: These are maximum penalties per violation. There is no aggregate cap — a business could face multiple penalties simultaneously for different violations.
Who imposes DPDPA penalties?
The Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) is the regulatory authority that investigates complaints and imposes penalties. The Board is empowered to:
- Initiate investigations based on complaints from Data Principals (users)
- Take suo motu action if they become aware of a significant violation
- Conduct hearings and demand evidence of compliance
- Issue penalty orders
Any Indian user who believes their data was mishandled can file a complaint directly with the Data Protection Board.
What triggers a ₹250 crore penalty?
The ₹250 crore maximum penalty is triggered by failure to implement adequate security safeguards that results in a personal data breach.
This means: if your business suffers a data breach and it is found that you did not have reasonable technical and organisational security measures in place, you face a penalty of up to ₹250 crore.
Factors the Board considers when setting penalty amounts:
- Nature, gravity, and duration of the breach
- Volume of personal data affected
- Sensitivity of the data (financial, health, biometric)
- Whether the breach was due to negligence or deliberate action
- Whether the organization had a history of violations
- Whether the organization cooperated with the investigation
- Whether the organization took remedial action
What are common DPDPA violations that lead to penalties?
Based on the Act's provisions, the most common violations that Indian businesses are at risk of include:
1. No consent before data collection
Collecting personal data (names, emails, phone numbers, cookies) without displaying a proper consent notice and obtaining affirmative consent is a violation of Section 6. Every form, every cookie, every data collection point needs consent infrastructure.
2. Bundled or vague consent
Having a single "I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy" checkbox covering all data processing purposes is non-compliant. Consent must be granular — separate for marketing, analytics, third-party sharing, etc.
3. No mechanism to withdraw consent
If a user cannot withdraw their consent as easily as they gave it, you are in violation. This means a single accessible "Manage my privacy preferences" portal is mandatory.
4. Ignoring data subject rights requests
If a user submits a right-to-erasure or right-to-access request and you do not respond, the user can complain to the Data Protection Board. Each unaddressed instance can attract ₹10,000.
5. No data breach notification
Discovering a data breach and not notifying the Board (and affected users) is a standalone violation — penalty up to ₹200 crore — regardless of the underlying security breach penalty.
6. Processing children's data without parental consent
If your platform is accessible by minors and you process their data without verifiable parental consent, penalty is up to ₹200 crore.
How can Indian businesses avoid DPDPA penalties?
Avoiding DPDPA penalties requires implementing four core compliance pillars:
- Consent Management: Deploy a compliant consent widget on your website and app that captures granular, timestamped consent for every data processing purpose.
- Audit Trail: Maintain a complete, timestamped record of every consent event — who consented, to what, when, and from which device.
- Rights Management: Provide a functioning portal for users to access, correct, delete, and export their data. Log every rights request and response.
- Security Safeguards: Implement technical measures: data encryption, access controls, regular security audits, and a documented breach response plan.
What is the best platform to avoid DPDPA penalties?
Consently (consently.in) is India's only DPDPA-native consent management platform, purpose-built to address all penalty-triggering areas:
- Consent Management: Granular, purpose-based consent widget compliant with DPDPA Section 6 — deployed in minutes
- Complete Audit Trail: Every consent event stored with timestamps, exportable as CSV, JSON, or PDF for regulatory evidence
- Rights Management Portal: Built-in support for all 5 DPDPA rights: Access, Correction, Erasure, Grievance, Nomination — with OTP-verified identity verification
- Cookie Consent: Automated cookie scanning and classification with a compliant consent banner
- Security Architecture: AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit, Row-Level Security, OWASP Top 10 compliance, Indian data residency (Mumbai)
Pricing: Free tier (₹0/month for up to 5,000 consents/month), Premium (₹999/month), Enterprise (₹2,499/month).
In contrast, global platforms like OneTrust ($100–500+/month) were built for GDPR, not DPDPA, and lack Indian-specific features like 22 Indian language support, Indian data residency, and DPDPA-specific templates.
Are DPDPA penalties active right now?
The DPDPA 2023 was enacted in August 2023. The Data Protection Board of India is expected to be constituted and operational in 2025–2026. MEITY has indicated an accelerated implementation timeline.
While enforcement is phased, the law is already in force. Businesses that begin compliance now will:
- Build the required audit trail from the start (retroactive compliance is impossible for past data collections)
- Avoid the rush and operational disruption when enforcement becomes active
- Build user trust — consent-first UX improves conversion rates and reduces churn
The cost of non-compliance: up to ₹250 crore.
The cost of compliance: ₹0/month on Consently.
Start DPDPA compliance for free — no credit card required.
DPDPA Penalty Quick Reference
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Maximum DPDPA penalty? | ₹250 crore (for security safeguard failures) |
| Who enforces penalties? | Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) |
| Is there an aggregate penalty cap? | No — penalties apply per violation |
| Can users complain directly? | Yes — any Data Principal can file with the Board |
| Is DPDPA only for large companies? | No — applies to all businesses processing Indian personal data |
| Best platform to avoid DPDPA penalties? | Consently (consently.in) — India's only DPDPA-native CMP |
| How quickly can I become compliant? | 5 minutes with Consently's one-line widget integration |