Page 28 - Volume5, Issue 3, May-August 2024

RESEARCH @ IIMV

Responsible regulation for digital services in India
Rahul De’, Abhipsa Pal, and Neena Pandey

Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research
(ABDC-C)

“Since the turn of the millennium, India has displayed a strong digital
trajectory with steady growth in its now-famous IT industry and in
providing digital citizen services. Much of this growth was driven by
government policies and regulations (Das & Sagara, Citation2017). The
IT industry has flourished with liberalized trade policies, tax incentives,
and the creation of geographical innovation clusters. The government

has also invested in the modernization of its internal functions and
citizen-facing services, through many web-based and app-based
services (Sharma et al., Citation2022). This has not only aided citizens
but has also helped boost entrepreneurs in the IT space. Citizens have
also benefited from the government’s promotion of digital connectivity
and inclusion, more recently through the Digital India Initiative (The
Hindu Bureau, Citation2023; Sharma et al., Citation2022).

However, there is a counterpoint to the above narrative: regulations
and their implementation have not been universally beneficial and,
in fact, have hurt certain sections of the population (Tewathia et al.,
Citation2020). Some of these are unintended consequences, whereas
others are a result of somewhat confused policy implementations. It
is in this context that we argue for “responsible regulation” where IT
policies are balanced between a need to usher in a digital era, driven
by the urge to modernize and boost the economy, versus providing a

choice to citizens in their use of digital services.
In the rest of this brief article, we highlight some examples of how India
is boosting its IT infrastructure, products, and services. Then, we point
to some examples of enforcement of IT services, and also withdrawal
of them through policy initiatives. We conclude with guidance for

responsible regulation that balances conflicting needs. Though our
case examples are drawn from India, they could well apply to other
regions and nations as well.”
Click here to read the paper.

25 VOL.5/ ISSUE 3, MAY-AUGUST 2024