The Board may accept a voluntary undertaking in respect of any matter related to observance of the provisions of the Act, from any person, at any stage of a proceeding.
The undertaking may include a commitment to take specified action within a stated time, to refrain from taking specified action, or to publicise the undertaking.
Acceptance of a voluntary undertaking by the Board bars proceedings under the Act in respect of the matter it covers.
If the person fails to comply with the terms, the Board may, after giving an opportunity of being heard, treat the failure as a breach and impose a penalty.
The Board may, on an application, vary the terms of an undertaking it has accepted.
On acceptance
proceedings barred. The bar is the whole value of the mechanism, and it lasts exactly as long as the terms are kept.
Where people go wrong
Treating an undertaking as an admission that ends the exposure. Failing to keep the terms revives the penalty route, this time for breach of the undertaking.
Offering an undertaking nobody has costed. The commitment is to specified action within a stated time, which somebody has to actually do.
Assuming it stays private. Publicising the undertaking is one of the things the Board may include in it.
Waiting for a final order before considering it. The Board may accept an undertaking at any stage of a proceeding.
Common questions
What is a voluntary undertaking under the DPDP Act?
Under section 32 the Data Protection Board may accept, at any stage of a proceeding, an undertaking to take specified action within a time, to refrain from specified action, or to publicise the undertaking. Acceptance bars proceedings under the Act in respect of that matter.
What happens if the undertaking is breached?
The Board may, after giving the person an opportunity of being heard, treat the failure as a breach of the Act and impose a penalty for it.
Can the terms be changed later?
Yes. Section 32(3) allows the Board, on an application, to vary the terms of a voluntary undertaking it has accepted.
A plain-English summary of what this provision requires, not a reproduction of it and not legal advice. Read alongside the bare Act, and take advice on anything turning on your own facts.