The India-UK FTA For IT Companies And GCCs: 10 Changes Technology Businesses Should Be Preparing For

On June 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of India’s AI Committee released preliminary draft of the Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026 (“The Draft”). This marks a shift from scattered experiments with AI tools for translation, transcription, research and case management. With over 93,000 pending matters as of March 2026, the guidelines aim to ease processes for officials and citizens. AI could help reduce backlogs through automated cause-list preparation, transcription, research, and defect scrutiny, but its use also raises serious concerns.

India has formally moved to regulate deepfakes and AI generated content by notifying the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026.

India's fintech market is one of the fastest growing in the world, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Estimates put the market at about USD 145 billion at the end of 2025, growing at a compound annual rate of 30.55% to reach roughly USD 550 billion by 2030. India's fintech adoption rate is around 87%, reportedly the highest anywhere and well above the global average of roughly 64% to 67%. Add the world's second-largest digital population and the runway looks long.

The Supreme Court of India, through notice dated 03.06.2026, has published the draft Regulations for use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026 (“Draft AI Regulations”). Comments and suggestions from all stakeholders and the general public are invited on the Draft AI Regulations by 20.06.2026

In a seismic event that has rattled the foundations of India's cryptocurrency landscape, WazirX, the nation's largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a devastating cyberattack that resulted in the theft of over $240 million in investor funds.

Cybersecurity regulation in India has, until now, largely spoken to the entity that suffers the breach. The 2022 CERT-In Directions issued under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 fixed a six-hour reporting clock on the organisation that detects an incident. The new Guidelines flip the lens onto the entity upstream of that breach, the OEM or technology provider that built the product in the first place. For the first time, vendors supplying software, firmware, cloud platforms, or APIs into India carry direct, time-bound, and independently verifiable obligations of their own and not obligations that are merely passed through a customer contract, but obligations CERT-In itself may enforce.

In a rare use of its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court heard a curative petition filed by DMRC, challenging an earlier order that had upheld the arbitral award. The judgment brings finality to a decade-long contractual dispute that began in 2013 with arbitration proceedings.

For most technology vendors, cybersecurity has been a promise made to a customer, set out in a statement of work and enforced, if at all, through the contract. For vendors supplying India's power sector, that is changing. The Central Electricity Authority (Cyber Security in Power Sector) Regulations, 2026, notified on 31 July 2026 under the Electricity Act, 2003, impose obligations directly on vendors, alongside a far more demanding set of requirements for the power-sector entities they serve. Most of these provisions come into force on 1 April 2027.

Between May and August 2026, AI regulation has continued to develop rapidly, with a focus on accountability, transparency, human oversight and protection against AI-related harms.

In contemporary times, we frequently encounter manipulated images, videos, and audio content that are explicitly inappropriate, contributing to misinformation and intentional deceit.

A personal data breach can create immediate legal, operational, and reputational consequences for an organisation. Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (DPDP Rules), specific obligations have been prescribed for Data Fiduciaries following a personal data breach. While organisations may already have broader data protection and cybersecurity measures in place, breach notification requires a distinct and time-sensitive response. The DPDP framework requires communication both to affected Data Principals and to the Data Protection Board of India.

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) introduces a relatively permissive framework for the cross-border transfer of personal data from India. Unlike the European Union’s GDPR, which relies extensively on adequacy decisions and prescribed transfer safeguards, the DPDP framework adopts a negative-list approach: international transfers are generally permitted, subject to restrictions that may be notified by the Central Government.

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.

Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) remain one of the most widely used instruments for venture capital and private equity investments in Indian companies. Their appeal lies in the ability to combine equity classification with negotiated economic and governance protections. But CCPS are not governed by a single, standalone statutory framework. Their legal treatment is instead shaped by the Companies Act, FEMA and foreign investment rules, tax law, and, where applicable, SEBI regulations.

India’s data protection regime has moved well past the discussion stage. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) on 13 November 2025, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) now has a defined implementation roadmap, and 2026 is the year businesses should be using to prepare for substantive compliance.

India’s data protection landscape is undergoing its most significant shift in over a decade. The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (“SPDI Rules”), have long formed the core of personal data protection obligations under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act“) for body corporates handling sensitive personal data or information.

The CBDT, through its press release dated 28 September 2026, has extended the due date for furnishing the Return of Income for Assessment Year 2026-27 in the case of persons covered under the specified category in the table to Explanation 2 to section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, i.e. persons whose accounts are subject to audit under the Act. The original due date for furnishing the return was 31 October 2026. The CBDT has extended this date by 21 days, and the revised due date is 21 November 2026.

In August 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the draft Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rates on Loans and Advances) Directions, 2026, proposing a comprehensive framework for the way regulated entities determine and apply interest rates on loans. While the Indian banking sector has long operated under a patchwork of institution specific instructions, the draft Directions seek to bring much-needed consistency to interest rate regulation across banks, cooperative banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), all-India financial institutions and NBFCs. If finalised in their present form, the Directions will come into effect from 1 April 2027.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (“AI”) has brought data protection considerations into the design, training and deployment of AI systems. AI models may be trained using datasets containing names, images, text, identifiers, behavioural information or other data that can relate to identifiable individuals. AI systems may also process personal data when they are deployed for purposes such as recruitment, credit assessment, insurance, healthcare, customer profiling or content moderation.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) were notified on 13 November 2025, more than two years after the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act” or “Act”) received Presidential assent. The Government has adopted a phased implementation approach, with most of the substantive obligations under the Act and Rules becoming operative 18 months from the date of notification, i.e., on 13 May 2027.