On March 30, 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, followed by additional updates on April 21, 2026, introducing provisions on the labelling of synthetically generated information under the Information Technology Act, 2000 ( Draft Rules ).

These proposed amendments reflect the Government's continued focus on ensuring user safety, transparency, and accountability in an evolving digital ecosystem.

In particular, the amendments introduce changes relating to the labelling of synthetically generated information, expand the scope of executive instruments such as advisories and guidelines for Part II, and revisit the applicability of Part III of the Rules to intermediaries and user-generated news and current affairs content.

Nasscom has submitted its detailed feedback on the Draft Rules, recognising MeitY's intent to strengthen the framework while ensuring that the regulatory approach remains clear, administrable, and aligned with the structure of the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021.

Below are the highlights of our key recommendations:

Limit the scope of executive instruments under proposed Rule 3(4): MeitY's power to issue clarifications, advisories, SOPs, codes of practice and guidelines should be limited to implementing, administratively clarifying or operationalising obligations already prescribed under Part II of the IT Rules. Such instruments should not create new due diligence obligations, expand existing obligations, alter Section 79 safe harbour conditions, or prescribe new consequences. Any new due diligence requirement should continue to be introduced only through rules made under Section 87 of the IT Act.

Clarify the applicability of Part III to intermediaries under Rule 8(1): Intermediaries should remain within Part III only for the limited purpose of complying with lawful, content-specific directions under Rules 15 and 16. Intermediaries should not be drawn into the Rule 14 Code of Ethics process for third-party user-generated content, and ordinary user-generated content should not be treated as publisher content merely because it relates to news or current affairs.

Ensure flexibility and technical feasibility in continuous and clearly visible labelling of synthetically generated information: The requirement for continuous and clearly visible labelling should be implemented with flexibility. Continuous visual labels may be used where feasible, while allowing alternative prominent visual disclosures along with machine-readable provenance mechanisms (such as metadata or content credentials) to ensure durability of disclosure across formats and redistribution contexts.