Section 32 — Voluntary undertaking

What this section requires

At any stage of a Section 28 proceeding, the Board can accept a voluntary undertaking from the person concerned — a commitment to take, or refrain from, specified action within a set time, possibly including publicising the undertaking. The Board can vary its terms later with that person's consent.

Once accepted, the undertaking bars further proceedings on its contents — unless the person breaches a term, in which case the breach is treated as a breach of the Act itself, and the Board can proceed to a Section 33 penalty after a hearing.

Who it applies to

Any person facing a Section 28 Board proceeding who chooses to offer, and has accepted, a voluntary undertaking — this is an optional route out of a full inquiry, not a general obligation.

Checklist

• Treat an accepted voluntary undertaking as binding, not aspirational — breaching a term converts it into a Section 33 breach in its own right.
• If circumstances change, seek the Board's consent to vary the undertaking's terms rather than simply deviating from it.

Penalty exposure

Breach of any term of an accepted voluntary undertaking carries a monetary penalty "up to the extent applicable for the breach in respect of which the proceedings under section 28 were instituted" — item 6 of the Schedule to Section 33. In practice, that ties the penalty back to whatever the original underlying breach would have carried.

Implementation timeline

Not yet in force. Commences 13 May 2027, eighteen months after the DPDP Rules, 2025 were published (13 November 2025) — per the commencement notification G.S.R. 843(E).