Now It is Action Time for Corporate Directors and CEOs
October 27, 2009 has been an important day for the
Indian Digital World. The much awaited amendments to the nine year ole ITA
2000 was finally notified.
ITA 2008 has different meanings to different persons. To
the Cyber Law Observers, it is a shift in the focus from E Commerce
promotion to Cyber Security. To Police it means an Inspector can
investigate a Cyber Crime. To a lawyer it means that 10 penal sections has
now expanded to 20 plus sections.To technologists, it is a gateway for new
Electronic signatures. To Privacy activists, it is a nightmare.
Beyond all these apparent perceptions, ITA 2008 holds a
red alert to Corporate Directors and CEOs in India. Company Secretaries in
particular need to take note of the requirements before they finalize the
agenda for their year end board meetings.
The reason is that ITA 2008 imposes several compliance
obligations to Companies both in the IT and Non IT segment including Banks
and BPOs.
With the approaching end of the financial year, most
companies are now looking at the last quarter priorities to present their
performance to the shareholders through their annual reports for the year
ending March 31 2008.
This year, the ITA 2008 will be throwing a special
challenge to these Companies (refer
Are you ITA 2008 compliant?) in the form of special compliance
requirements under ITA 2008. Non Compliance of these could make the
Compliance Certification in the annual report untenable.
There is hardly enough time for the Companies to act
between now and March 31, 2010 and action is required immediately.
In order to provide information and assistance for
Companies to implement a plan of action for ITA 2008, Naavi.org has opened
an ” ITA 2008 Emergency Help Center for Corporate Executives and CEOs”.
Naavi.org already supports individuals through Cyber Crime Complaints and
Resolution Assistance Center (CCC-RAC). Now the ITA 2008 Emergency Help
Center will provide similar support to individual Corporate Directors, CEOs
and Company Secretaries to enable them be compliant by March 2010.
This is a unique attempt where regulatory compliance is
driven by private enterprise and follows the many other initiatives of the
kind that Naavi.org has been known for in the past 10 years. Hopefully it
would inspire many more to follow the footsteps.
Naavi
December 18,2009
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Comments are Welcome at
naavi@vsnl.com
