Launch of The Legal 500: Technology Country Comparative Guide
Suneeth Katarki, Partner, Namita Viswanath, Principal Associate and Shrutika Umarji Associate PUBLISHED ON INHOUSELAWYER.CO.UK, AUGUST 2017

This country-specific Q&A provides an overview to technology laws and regulations that may occur in the India . It covers communications networks and their operators, databases and software, data protection, AI, cybersecurity as well as the author's view on planned future reforms of the merger control regime.

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The importance of being earnest in startup culture
Moneycontrol.com, July 2017

"Based on facts in public domain, it's possible that Travis' resignation could have been avoided if it was proven that he didn't look at the medical report of the victim or other goings on or had acted swiftly against the executives involved," said Avimukt Dar, partner at IndusLaw.

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India's New Cross Border Merger Provisions: A Realistic Structuring Option?
RAN CHAKRABARTI, PARTNER, MINI KAPOOR, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, INDUSLAW, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, JULY 2017

Earlier this year in April, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (the "MCA") by way of notification effective from April 13, 2017 notified Section 234 of the Companies Act, 2013 (the "Act") along with the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Amendment Rules, 2017 (the "Rules") to operationalize Section 234 of the Act (the "MCA Notification") which broadly applies to schemes of mergers and amalgamations between Indian companies and foreign companies incorporated in foreign jurisdictions notified by the Central Government.

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Digital business in India: overview
Suneeth Katarki, Partner, Namita Viswanath, Principal Associate, Shrutika Umarji, Associate and Sangeet Sindan, Associate, IndusLaw, published on Thomson Reuters practicallaw.com, July 2017

A Q&A guide to digital business in India.
The Q&A gives a high level overview of matters relating to regulations and regulatory bodies for doing business online, setting up an online business, electronic contracts and signatures, data retention requirements, security of online transactions and personal data, licensing of domain names, jurisdiction and governing law, advertising, tax, liability for content online, insurance, and proposals for reform.

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GST: BACK ON TRACK FOR JULY 2017 ROLLOUT?
RAN CHAKRABARTI, Partner, PALECANDA M. CHINNAPPA, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, AND ANISH MUNU, ASSOCIATE, INDUSLAW, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, MAY 2017

The Parliament passed cornerstone legislation at the beginning of April, keeping the implementation of the new GST regime on track. The Acts essentially implement the intention of the Amendment, clearing the way for new fiscal powers at the Center and the State level, permitting the collection and sharing of the GST.

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DIGITAL WALLETS IN INDIA- A BRIEF ASSESSMENT ON POTENTIAL LIABILITIES
ANUPAM PRASAD, PARTNER AND NIRIKSHA SANGHVI, ASSOCIATE, INDUSLAW, PUBLISHED IN FORUM VIEWS MAGAZINE, MARCH 2017

The Reserve Bank of India ("RBI") has classified digital wallets as "Prepaid Payment Instruments" (hereinafter "PPI" or "Issuer") which refers to payment instruments that facilitate purchase of goods and services, including funds transfer, against the value stored on such instruments.

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KEY LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS 2016
INDUSLAW.COM, FEBRUARY 2017

This publication highlights some of the key changes to India’s legal framework during 2016, analysing its implications and what it means for investors, lenders, developers and other key stakeholders in the economy.

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Five laws that the FM proposes to change
BUSINESS-STANDARD.COM, February 2017

Consolidating the labour laws Issues & challenges The Budget promises to come up with a plan to consolidate labour laws under four subjects: Wages, industrial relations, social security and working conditions. “Fragmentation is a big issue as there are more than 100 statutes and many of them overlap,” says Avik Biswas, partner, IndusLaw.

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IndusLaw hosts IFCCI event with Shri. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog
IFCCI.ORG, JANUARY 2017

On Tuesday, January 24th 2017, IndusLaw in collaboration with the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) Delhi hosted an interactive session with Shri. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog to discuss the current economic and investment climate in India as well as opportunities for French firms to flourish their business operations.

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MONDAQ AWARDS – INDUSLAW WON CONTRIBUTOR WITH MOST POPULAR ARTICLE IN INDIA
MONDAQ.COM, DECEMBER 2016

During the Month of November 2016. The Gist Of GST - A Unified Indirect Tax Market? (India) from IndusLaw won the award for this category.*

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The 40 who matter in the Indian start-up ecosystem
Livemint.com, DECEMBER 2016

In the first of a multi-part series, Mint profiles the 40 most influential people in India's start-up ecosystem. While e-commerce influencers still dominate the list, there are a handful of new entrants, most prominently those connected with enterprise software or Software as a Service (SaaS) start-ups that are fast becoming the new investor darlings.

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India: The Gist of GST - A Unified Indirect Tax Market?
Ran Chakrabarti, PARTNER AND Siddharth Marwah, ASSOCIATE INDUSLAW, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, November 2016

"One Country, One Tax, One Market" were the excited claims of the architects of the Constitution (One Hundred and First) Amendment Act, 2016, passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3rd August 2016 and the Lok Sabha on 8th August 2016 and which received the assent of the President on 8th September 2016 (the "Constitutional Amendment").

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Start-up emergency funding gets a fancy name in Pre-Series A
Livemint.com, October 2016

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to be hustlers. Interestingly, they don’t just create ideas but also terminologies. As investors become more demanding, entrepreneurs and start-ups are increasingly turning to emergency financing which has been given a fancy name of Pre-Series A.

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Rise of Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber, MakeMyTrip could face anti-trust threat
livemint.com, October 2016

As India’s Internet businesses mature, a time may come when the anti-trust regulator will have to take a closer look at companies that are changing several industries including travel, retail and advertising. So far, the antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has almost always ruled in favour of Internet businesses when they were accused of predatory pricing and other unfair practices.

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India: High Court issues "strong judgement" in WhatsApp case
Dataguidance.com, September 2016

The High Court of Delhi (‘the High Court’) pronounced, on 23 September 2016, its decision in a public interest litigation case, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Anr v. Union of India and Ors (‘the Decision’), in relation to WhatsApp Inc.’s new privacy policy that allows for the sharing of users’ data with Facebook, Inc., for advertising and marketing purposes. The High Court ordered WhatsApp to delete users’ data completely from its servers and refrain from sharing users’ data with Facebook, provided that the users requested the deletion of their WhatsApp account before 25 September 2016, the date on which the users were asked to agree to the new terms, and also prohibited WhatsApp from sharing existing users’ data dated before 25 September 2016.

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India: Deposits Under The Companies Act, 2013
Kartik Ganapathy and Ankita Gupta, published on Mondaq.com, July 2016

Deposits have been defined under the Companies Act, 2013 ("2013 Act") to include any receipt of money by way of deposit or loan or in any other form by a company. However deposits do not include such categories of amounts as may be prescribed in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India ("RBI"). Chapter V of the 2013 Act and the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014 as amended from time to time ("Deposits Rules") primarily cover regulations relating to deposits. The Deposits Rules provide an exhaustive definition of deposits which is exclusionary in nature and exclude certain amounts received by a company, from the ambit of deposits. It may also be noted that the Companies Act, 1956 ("1956 Act") and the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 1975 also defined deposits in a similar manner and excluded certain amounts which were not to be considered deposits.

 
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Enter the era of digitized Hospital Management
Blog on eandt.theiet.org, July 2016.

My final post on the HITS series is to do with hospital management and its digitization. Look we need to acknowledge that virtual reality is part of our lives and it's necessary to keep pace with it. Everything is transmitting X Gigabites of data, so it's imperative that this data needs to be used for better deliverables. Why don't we look at the same in the case of healthcare, especially when it comes to managing hospitals? That's understandable because the Indian healthcare market is expected to grow to US $280 billion by 2020.

 
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Leading Indian Firm, IndusLaw, Selects NetDocuments as Global Demand for Cloud-Based Document and Email Management Continues to Rise
Blog on blog.netdocuments.com, March 2016.

Salt Lake City, UT – March 15, 2016 –indus.jpg India-based international law firm, IndusLaw, has announced that they have chosen NetDocuments for their document and email management. With a growing clientele and expanding international presence, the firm required a solution that would scale across all their offices and through the various industries they represent. After an extensive due diligence process, including a thorough review of consumer-grade applications, IndusLaw recognized the enterprise document management system (DMS) capabilities of NetDocuments, including enhanced security and usability, user-friendly mobile access, and system predictability through a modern, legal-centric platform.

 
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BigBasket, Janalakshmi, Delhivery among winners of VCCircle Awards 2016
PUBLISHED ON VCCIRCLE.COM, March 2016.

Online supermarket BigBasket, microlender Janalakshmi Financial Services and logistics firm Delhivery Pvt Ltd have emerged among the winners of VCCircle Awards 2016 declared on Wednesday in Mumbai.

 
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Cloud-Based Messaging Services In India: Data Security Obligations
Suneeth Katarki, PARTNER AND Namita Viswanath, Senior ASSOCIATE INDUSLAW, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, February 2016.

'Cloud Computing' refers to internet based computing that allows access to a pool or network of computing resources that are owned and maintained by a third party via the internet. There is an emerging trend of smartphone companies in India operating a cloud-based messaging service which routes messages sent between service users via the internet instead of the telecom operator's SMS gateway. For instance, smartphone company Xiaomi Technology India Pvt. Ltd. operates the MIUI cloud messaging service and Apple India Pvt. Ltd. operates the iMessage service. Similarly, messaging service applications like WhatsApp also provide an alternative way for users to send video and text messages using an internet connection, instead of the traditional SMS. These cloud-based messaging services have certain inherent benefits that include bypassing a telecom operator's text messaging charges, permitting use even when the user is outside the home network of the telecom operator and does not have roaming services activated, indicating whether a message has been delivered or read, accessing the phonebook of a user to identify other users of the same cloud-based messaging services and enabling simultaneous delivery of a message to all devices configured to a single account. However, it has been noticed that in the course of providing this service, personal information such as the device's IMEI number, customer's phone number, phone contacts and text messages received from users is often shared with a server located in a foreign jurisdiction. There is hence a need for any company operating such cloud-based messaging services in India ("Company" or "Companies") to comply with the data security obligations imposed by law. In India there is no strong regulatory regime which exclusively deals with cloud computing or the legal issues attached to it. However, certain provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") may be applied to cloud computing.

 
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Amendments To The Citizenship Act, 1955 And The Concept Of The Overseas Citizens Of India Cardholder
Ran Chakrabarti, Partner and Sonu Varghese, Associate IndusLaw, published on mondaq.com, January 2016.

In response to growing demands to introduce dual citizenship from its overseas diaspora, India introduced the concept of the person of Indian origin (a "PIO") in 2002 and an overseas citizen of India (an "OCI") in 2006 as categories of persons who enjoy certain legal rights in India. This article summarises the rights that PIOs and OCIs have in India and examines the impact of the recently introduced Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2015 (the "Amendment Act").

 
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From bucks to Bitcoins – Enforcement of cryptocurrency transactions
Avimukt Dar, Partner and Chhavi Jhanji, Associate IndusLaw, published in Corporate Law Adviser, Volume 125, Part 4, April 2015 (Second).

It was circa 1955 when computer was used for the very first time in India and it was circa 1995 that internet services were first launched here. In 2015, one cannot imagine a life without the two. This goes to show how fast we adapt to the advancement in technology and make it a part of our daily lives. In this article, the authors seek to unfold the cryptographic world behind Bitcoins alongside the regulatory issues making the Indian Government wary of its usage in the near future. Pursuant to the warning released by the Reserve Bank of India; are authorities in the Indian Government in denial regarding Bitcoins increasing relevance in the business world?

 
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The Litigation and Dispute Resolution Workshop
Mayer Brown and IndusLaw presented ‘The Litigation and Dispute Resolution Workshop’ organised by IDEX LEGAL on 29 April 2015.

Mayer Brown and IndusLaw presented ‘The Litigation and Dispute Resolution Workshop’ organised by IDEX LEGAL on 29 April 2015 at Palladium Hotel, Mumbai. The day-long Workshop consisted of panel discussions and detailed presentations by Partners of IndusLaw and Mayer Brown.

Related Tags: Litigation & Arbitration
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Happily ‘Click’ After – The Real Story Of E-Contracts
Suneeth Katarki and Ashi Bhat, IndusLaw, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, March 2015.

India is no longer identified by its elephants and snake charmers. This is not because of the dwindling number of elephants or the almost extinct species of snake charmers, in India but because the reason India shines is no longer found in the jungle, unless you consider the Internet a virtual jungle!

 
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Companies Act 2013: A New Sail In LLP Regime?
Avimukt Dar and Chitvan Bakshi, IndusLaw, PUBLISHED ON MONDAQ.COM, February 2015.

The Companies Act 2013 has shaken the way business was conducted in India. The governance ecosystem of the Companies Act, 1956 ("Old Act"), with its laissez faire approach to privately held companies, is now history. The Companies Act, 2013 is driven by three key objectives:

 
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Measuring performance in a Hotel Management Agreement-Owner's Anxiety
Avimukt Dar and Prachi Bhardwaj, IndusLaw, Published in US India Business Council, Legal Services Newsletter, Fall 2014 Issue, January 2015.

A hotel management agreement defines the relationship between the owner and the operator of a hotel. The relationship between these two parties is driven primarily by contract and not by equity or property, and as such aligning the interest of both parties is critical. The operator looks at a long-term undisturbed right to operate the hotel under its brand standards and the owner is interested in return from the property.

 
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Corporate law firms benefit from rise in value of M&As, share sales
Published on livemint.com, December 2014.

Corporate law firms in India are benefiting from an increase in the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and share acquisitions during the course of the year. The enterprise value of deals on which law firms have advised has shot up to $35.7 billion this year till December, a 22% increase over the $29.3 billion in deals seen in the whole of 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data.

 
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Women's safety: E-commerce companies need to do more to ensure quality of offline workforce
Published on Economic Times Bureau, December 2014.

When I am alone at home I am not comfortable with them coming into my house, especially when my neighbours aren't home," she says. "It appears the safety aspect is not something that these companies thought of when putting together their business plan," says Priyanka Roy, partner at Indus Law, a firm specialising in the e-commerce and technology space.

 
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Dealmaker: Srinivas Katta, Partner at IndusLaw
Published in Bar & Bench, November 2014.

Bar & Bench recognizes Srinivas Katta as the Dealmaker for his role in Softbank’s investment in Snapdeal. We understand that the complex transaction included multiple legal and commercial issues. Katta not only provided valuable legal advice to his client, but also helped the investors and management come together and close the deal.

Related Tags: Venture Capital and Private Equity Investment, Foreign Direct Investment
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