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Guidelines to Build Robust Security Standards for the Financial Technology Sector in India
No full textGiven the rapid growth of the fintech sector in India and the lack of any national data protection framework, there is an urgent need to arrive at stop-gap measures to ensure robust information security standards for the sector. Owing to threats such as financial data leakages, malware attacks etc., information security standards are central to ensuring business and operational sanctity. We present a set of minimum guidelines, which privilege a co-regulatory framework for the fintech sector, that should be considered when building a regulatory framework for the fintech entities to ensure adequate data protection as well as the growth of the industry
Rise of Decentralised Finance | Reimagining Financial Regulation
No full textBased on decentralised ledger technology (DLT), decentralised finance (DeFi) involves the provision of financial services without reliance on centralised intermediaries (such as banks). While DeFi seeks to complement existing financial services, its reliance on crypto asset speculation and arbitrage coupled with instances of security, operational and governance failures, may pose risks to consumers and the financial system. Therefore, the proliferation of such markets without any regulatory oversight requires immediate consideration. While existing literature focuses on the innovation potential of DeFi, there is little discussion about the legal implications of DeFi. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature and recommends possible regulatory approaches. The article highlights that DeFi will challenge traditional financial regulations designed for centralised systems where identifying the subject of regulatory obligations is straightforward. Further, participants in a DeFi system can be spread across multiple jurisdictions, challenging the determination of the relevant jurisdiction whose law will apply. As the DeFi market is still evolving, this article argues that regulatory focus must be on specific aspects. This includes regulatory clarity for cryptoassets, regulating gatekeepers of the DeFi ecosystem i.e., service providers (like exchanges, wallets, custodians), and issuance of regulatory guidance on the applicability of existing laws to DLT systems. These regulatory approaches must be supplemented with measures such as designing internationally well-recognised standards for DeFi services, harnessing technology (“Regtech” and “Suptech”) for better supervision and compliance and leveraging existing regulatory sandboxes for a cost-benefit analysis of such innovations and determining regulatory responses
Liberalism and its Encounters in India: Some Interdisciplinary Approaches
No full textThis book explores the future of liberalism in India. It moves away from traditional approaches and draws upon resources from other disciplines – those subjects which some might think don’t strictly fall under political science or theory – like anthropology, literature, philosophy — to critically engage with the condition of late capitalist modernity in India.
The essays in the volume trace liberalism\u27s journey through modern Indian history to give us a new standpoint to understand current debates and also point to some internal contradictions of Indian liberalism.
The volume will be of importance to scholars and researchers of political science, especially political theory, and South Asian studies.https://repository.nls.ac.in/books/1049/thumbnail.jp
Antitrust Concerns vis-a-vis Disruptive Innovation – Takeaways for Competition Commission of India
No full textIn the era of innovation, market dynamics have evolved demanding a more nuanced analysis of market competition. Innovation in digital economy does promise new products and services but it can be an amiable reality only if it is directed towards ensuring consumer welfare and a free markets space for players. Since digital markets attract innovators and disruptors, it is important for antitrust regulators to differentiate between efforts directed towards value-creation and ones aimed at destroying or impeding the same. This paper aims at theorizing around the idea of ‘disruptive innovation’ and its implications for competition policy for India. The paper while acknowledging the pro-competitive benefits of disruptive innovation, elaborates on the fact that incumbents or potential players may in some situations clothe a business strategy as ‘disruptive’ in order to evade anti-trust scrutiny. Further, practices such as rent-seeking or killer acquisitions may be adopted in order to create barriers for new players or for driving out existing players which have a strong potential of disrupting the market by offering new products or services and thereby creating a new demand, altogether. Considering the fact that an antirust regulator in such situations needs to avoid false positives and false negatives while also ensuring continued innovation, the paper deliberates upon the need to evolve fundamental strategies for antitrust assessment. Reliance has been placed upon the developments in other jurisdictions such as the European Union and United States in order to identify certain key takeaways for the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’). While CCI in the recent past has made tremendous efforts in evolving its assessment to better suit digital markets, certain fundamental understandings around which an assessment revolves also demand evolution. In this light, the paper intends to provide some level of guidance to assess complex situations demanding antitrust assessment in a manner that should not lead to chilling effects on innovation
Beyond the Clock: Exploring the Complexities of Women’s Domestic Roles in India Through the Lenses of Daughters and Daughters-in-Law
No full textThis study aims to estimate the distribution of time spent on unpaid activities in India, with a focus on understanding the gendered nature of this work. The study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by providing empirical insights into the time spent on unpaid domestic activities by daughters and daughters-in-law, and by identifying the sociocultural and economic factors that contribute to this work. To achieve this objective, the study employs data from the Time Use Survey (TUS) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in India from January to December 2019. The study uses a two-phase analysis to estimate the time spent on unpaid activities by daughters and daughters-in-law. In the first phase, the study estimates the average time spent in different economic and non-economic activities by gender and habitation. This analysis reveals that men tend to work longer hours in market activities and spend less time on unpaid domestic activities than women across all stages of their lifecycle. In the second phase of analysis, the study estimates the magnitude of unpaid activities carried out by daughters and daughters-in-law, and identifies the relative contributions of demographic and socioeconomic factors to the time spent on selected unpaid activities. The study employs a linear regression model to assess the impact of these factors on the time spent on unpaid work. Additionally, the study uses Fairlie’s decomposition to estimate the difference in unpaid domestic/care duties between daughters and daughters-in-law. The findings of the study highlight the critical role that household kinship ties play in determining the amount of time women spend on unpaid activities. Specifically, the study reveals that daughters-in-law tend to spend significantly more time on unpaid activities than unmarried daughters. Moreover, the study identifies that women who are less educated, marginalised, and belong to underprivileged households tend to spend more time on unpaid work. The overall contributions of this study are significant in shedding light on the issue of unpaid work, particularly with respect to household kinship ties, and in understanding the dynamics of unpaid work in the socioeconomic context of India
Jurimetrics and Detention: Understanding the Supreme Court Through Detention Cases During the 1975 National Emergency
No full textThis paper employs the lens of jurimetrics to empirically analyse patterns in decision-making by the Supreme Court while deciding cases concerning personal liberty between 1974-1977, with the 1975 National Emergency as the point of reference. The paper investigates and analyses the functioning of the Supreme Court in this period by examining the numerical trends in the number of reportable and unreportable judgments in preventive detention matters during the 1975 Emergency, by contrasting it with the period immediately before the proclamation and after the revocation of the Emergency. First, the paper introduces the period of study and delineates its methodology, along with setting the legislative, political, and judicial context to these judgments. Second, the paper shows a decline in the number of reportable and unreportable judgments in such matters during the 1975 Emergency and explores various reasons for the same. Third, the paper analyses the Court’s jurisprudence on the maintainability of habeas corpus petitions against preventive detentions during this period, with specific focus on ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (Habeas Corpus case). The paper shows how the Supreme Court had laid the groundwork for this decision even prior to the 1975 Emergency, and analyses the subsequent cases that reiterate its position of law. To conclude, the paper raises questions on the extent of judicial independence and accountability during the 1975 National Emergency and underscores the need to further study the working of the Supreme Court more closely and rigorously, for a better understanding of judicial decision-making
A Tribal Chief and a Colonial Legislation: The Excluded Areas Act of 1846
No full textThis article explores the nature of colonial sovereignty from a Hobbesian lens of ‘state necessity’ by taking the example of the Excluded Areas Act of 1846. This Act was a special law that placed the Bhil tribes of the Khandesh and Ahmadnagar districts (in present-day Maharashtra) outside the purview of the general laws in the Bombay Presidency. By drawing from archival sources, including records of the East India Company and legislative proceedings, the paper contrasts pre-colonial tribal autonomy with authoritarian and paternalistic colonial rule by a British Agent under the Act. First, the paper locates its argument on colonial rule in an ‘unruly’ tribal periphery through exceptional/emergency legislation in the larger body of work on colonial sovereignty. Second, it sets out the nature of tribal autonomy and the role of the hill chiefs in these regions. Third, it uses primary material to elaborate on Kuar Vasava’s (a Bhil tribal chief) interactions with and rebellion against the East India Company state. Fourth, it briefly explains the law-making process in early colonial India. Fifth, it analyses the promulgation of the Excluded Areas Act of 1846 and the powers of the executive under the Act as direct consequences of Kuar Vasava’s rebellion, and argues that the law was used as a tool to undermine tribal autonomy and impose colonial rule. A short conclusion follows
Law and its Discontents: Ageing and Family Law in India
No full textAgeing is an overarching phenomenon, its effects felt across lines of region, gender, caste and other identifiers. Standards in international human rights law as well as the Constitution of India lay down broad guidelines to protect rights including ideals of equality and non-discrimination. These are reflected in the legal landscape on the ground and its working. However, both these seem to fall short of Constitutional guarantees. The abdication of responsibility by the State in terms lack of social security and in inordinate delays on issues relating to rights claims outweigh the minor gains made by maintenance and domestic violence legislations that seek to ensure life with equality and dignity in times of ageing. This paper critiques the legal landscape on maintenance and domestic violence from the lens of rights of older persons
Street Vendor Politics and Legal Mobilisation in Metropolitan India: A Retrospective View
No full textSocio-legal analysis distinguishes itself from more conventional modes of legal reasoning by eschewing an excessive focus on the content of law and instead emphasising a) the motivations of social actors engaging in legal mobilisation; b) legal procedures; and c) bargaining in the shadow of law. In this retrospective essay, I analyse the 30-year period of judicial intervention in street vending governance in two cities—Mumbai and Chennai—beginning in the 1980s and culminating in the passage of the Street Vendors Act 2014 by Parliament. I demonstrate that the above analysis can provide a possible explanation for the limited success of judicial intervention in balancing security of tenure for street vendors with other competing interests. Further, I identify certain continuities in both the substance and the process of street vending governance between the old regime under judicial supervision and the new regime under the Street Vendors Act. I therefore argue that breaking the impasse in street vending governance requires not just the creation of new planning and dispute-resolution forums (as conceived by the Street Vendors Act), but also new political and regulatory processes that mark a clear departure from the earlier period
Micropolitics of Urban Informality and Street Vendors in Kolkata
No full textStreet vending activities received formal legislative recognition in India, with the Parliament enacting the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act in 2014. Since then, the judiciary has sought to uphold the rule based order through the implementation of the Street Vendors Act. However, on-ground implementation of the progressive legislation remains challenging, and vendors continue to face harassment. Looking through the prism of “political society”, this article explores micro-level network politics around street vending in Kolkata. First, it discusses how the city’s political economic context played a role in the mobilisation of the vendors to resist state hegemony. Second, the study underscores the importance of local-level political networks in the implementation process. We bring out how political populism and clientelism play out in practice by highlighting the roles of neighbourhood-level socio-cultural organisations (para clubs) as intermediary actors in the process. Overall, the article provides a nuanced discussion about everyday contestations over street space