This Article examines the impact of the Digital Personal Data
Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act/Act") on
pharmaceutical companies in so far as the collection, processing,
storage and sharing of personal and sensitive health data is
concerned. While the Act strengthens a patient's privacy, and
data protection, it also poses operational, legal and financial
challenges, especially for multinational players handling
cross-border data transfers and legacy data systems.
INTRODUCTION
On 13th November, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology notified the Digital Personal Data
Protection Rules, 2025 ("Rules"). The
Rules impose strict regulations regarding how the organizations
should collect, store, process, transfer and safeguard the personal
data of individuals. The implementation of these Rules has directly
impacted several healthcare stakeholders, including hospitals,
pharmaceutical companies and digital health platforms since the
core activities