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Digital public infrastructure and platforms

India's digital public infrastructure and the rules for digital platforms: identity, payments, records and registries built as public goods, digital money, and the regulation of online selling, gaming, platforms and competition. It serves GS2 answers on e-governance and GS3 answers on the digital economy.

All 4 subjects shown; the 4 that changed from 1 July to 15 September 2026 are marked.Show only these

Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020

Prelims and Mains

These rules govern how a platform may sell to an Indian consumer. Until now a platform answered for its interface only when somebody caught it, and the amendment notified on 10 September 2026 makes it certify that interface itself from 1 January 2027.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority issued guidelines on dark patterns in 2023, naming false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, subscription traps and drip pricing.

What the amendment requires

Design
- Comply with the 2023 dark patterns guidelines
- Yearly self audit and certificate of compliance
Search
- No manipulation to mislead
- Clearly disclose sponsored listings
Prices
- Show the reduced and the prior price
- Prior price is the lowest in the previous 30 days
- No bundled fees for unrelated services
Imports and grievances
- Disclose importer and country of origin
- Join the National Consumer Helpline convergence process

From the Press Information Bureau (PIB) release, 10 September 2026

What changed

10 Sep 2026
PIB, 10 Sep 2026: Government amends E-Commerce Rules to strengthen consumer protection and promote transparency (opens in a new tab)

Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme

Prelims and Mains

The record of who owns which piece of land is the government's own rule book, and it has to be read, mapped and registered before it means anything. The textual record of ownership and the survey map often disagree with each other. The programme that digitises that record entered its third phase in September 2026, with operational guidelines and ₹565.50 crore for the years 2026 to 2031.

It began in 2008 as the National Land Records Modernisation Programme, merging two Centrally Sponsored Schemes.
In 2016 it was revamped as the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), a Central Sector Scheme funded entirely by the Union.
DILRMP 3.0 builds a GIS enabled Land Stack tying cadastral maps to Records of Rights, registrations and court cases.
State Land Stacks federate into a National Land Stack, with the data staying with the States.
Every parcel gets a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), a 14 digit identity also called the Universal Bhu-Aadhaar.
Registration is to be done at Registration Seva Kendras, modelled on Passport Seva Kendras.
NAKSHA, the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations, is the pilot for urban land records and issues Urban Property Cards.

What changed

Safe harbour and the Meta takedown

Prelims and Mains

Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 protects a platform from liability for what users post. In Shreya Singhal the Supreme Court held that a platform need remove content only on a court order or a government notification tied to Article 19(2). Blocking orders under Section 69A are confidential.

What changed

10 Aug 2026New subjectnewly added
- A video posted by the Prime Minister became inaccessible on Facebook for some hours on 28 July with a notice citing a legal request, and was restored as an operational error.
- A parliamentary committee demanded an apology and spoke of withdrawing safe harbour, which only Parliament can do by amending the law.
Mains: safe harbour fits hosting but not paid advertising, where the platform picks the audience and earns from each view, which is the case for independent audits of algorithms as the European Union requires of very large platforms.
Frontline, 10 Aug 2026 · Frontline, 18 Jul 2026
18 Jul 2026Updatealso in news
- NITI Aayog consulted technology firms on whether India's takedown and grievance timelines are workable for intermediaries of different sizes, as part of a wider deregulation exercise.
- Intermediaries must remove content and answer grievances within timelines set under the Information Technology rules.
The Indian Express, 18 Jul 2026: NITI Aayog asks technology firms whether India's content blocking and compliance timelines are workable (opens in a new tab)

Digital public infrastructure abroad

Mains

India offers its digital public infrastructure, such as DigiLocker and the payments and identity stack, to other countries through digital cooperation agreements and a fund for pilots in low and middle income countries.

What changed

29 Jul 2026New subject
- India has signed digital cooperation agreements with 24 countries. Kenya has concluded an implementation agreement for DigiLocker, and a Social Impact Fund will pay for pilots in low and middle income countries.
PIB, 29 Jul 2026: India Strengthens Global Digital Cooperation through Digital Public Infrastructure Partnerships with 24 Countries (opens in a new tab)

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