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ARTICLE · 17 SEPTEMBER 2026

Data Retention And Deletion Under The DPDP Act: How Long Can Businesses Retain Personal Data In India?

King, Stubb & Kasiva
King, Stubb & Kasiva
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India’s data protection framework has moved from legislation to implementation. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) now notified, organizations processing personal data in India need to reassess how long they retain personal data, why they retain it, and how they ultimately delete or anonymize it.

IndiaPrivacy
Dhruv Kaushal
Dhruv Kaushal
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India’s data protection framework has moved from legislation to implementation. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) now notified, organizations processing personal data in India need to reassess how long they retain personal data, why they retain it, and how they ultimately delete or anonymize it.

A key principle under the DPDP framework is that personal data should not be retained indefinitely merely because it may be useful in the future. The DPDP Act links retention to the purpose for which personal data is processed, while the DPDP Rules prescribe more specific retention and erasure mechanisms for certain categories of processing.

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