Skip to main content
DPDP Compliance
Home/DPDP Act/Chapter IX — Miscellaneous/Section 43 — Power to Remove Difficulties
DPDP Act, 2023 · Chapter IX · Section 43 of 44

Section 43: Power to Remove Difficulties

Section 43 is a standard safety-valve clause: if putting the Act into effect runs into a genuine difficulty, the Central Government can issue an order to fix it — but only within three years of commencement, and always subject to Parliament seeing the order afterward.

Effective from 13 May 2027Reviewed September 2026
Back to the Full DPDP Act GuideNext: Section 44 — Amendments to Certain Acts
StatusEffective 13 May 2027
Chapter IX · Miscellaneous

Quick summary

In plain terms: If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the Act's provisions, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make provisions not inconsistent with the Act, as necessary or expedient to remove the difficulty. No such order can be made after three years from the Act's commencement, and every order made must be laid before each House of Parliament.

What Section 43 says

  • Sub-section (1) — if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the Act's provisions, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the Act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty.
  • Sub-section (2) — no order under sub-section (1) shall be made after the expiry of three years from the Act's commencement.
  • Sub-section (3) — every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.

Breaking it down

“Removal of difficulties” clauses like this are common in Indian legislation as a practical release valve for implementation problems that couldn't be fully anticipated when the Act was drafted — without requiring a full parliamentary amendment process to fix a genuine operational snag.

This power is genuinely time-limited, unlike the general rule-making power in Section 40. Sub-section (2)'s cutoff means this specific safety valve isn't available indefinitely — it's meant for difficulties that surface during the Act's initial implementation period, not as an ongoing tool for adjusting the Act over the long term.

The power is constrained to consistency with the Act itself. “Not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act” means this section can't be used to make changes that actually contradict the Act's substance — it's for filling genuine implementation gaps, not for rewriting policy.

Parliamentary awareness is still required, even without a pre-approval requirement. Sub-section (3)'s laying requirement means every order made under this section still has to be brought before Parliament, similar in spirit to Section 41's laying requirement for rules and certain notifications, even though it doesn't specify the same 30-day modification/annulment mechanism explicitly.

Why this section matters

Even a carefully drafted Act can run into unanticipated practical difficulties once it's actually being implemented — overlapping provisions, timing mismatches with other laws, or gaps the drafters didn't foresee. Section 43 gives the government a way to address genuine difficulties quickly during the Act's early implementation window, while the time limit and parliamentary laying requirement keep that power from becoming an open-ended tool for bypassing the ordinary amendment process.

Real-world example

Example

What kind of “difficulty” this section is meant for

Section 43 is meant for genuine implementation snags, not routine policy adjustments — the kind of issue that might arise, for instance, if two provisions' phased commencement dates created an unanticipated operational gap that made a specific requirement impossible to actually comply with during a transitional window.

  • How the section would be used — the Central Government could issue a Gazette order addressing that specific gap — but only within the time-limited window sub-section (2) allows, and any such order would still need to be laid before Parliament under sub-section (3).

Who needs to care about this section

  • Policy and legal teams tracking the Act's implementation — this is a time-limited mechanism worth being aware of during the Act's early years, though not one to plan around for the long term.

Common questions

Can the government keep using this power indefinitely to adjust the Act?
No — sub-section (2) specifically prohibits making any order under this section after the expiry of three years from the Act's commencement.
Does an order under this section need to go through the same modification process as rules under Section 41?
Sub-section (3) requires every such order to be laid before both Houses of Parliament, similar in spirit to Section 41's requirement, though this section's own text doesn't spell out the same explicit 30-day modification and annulment mechanism.
Can this power be used to change the Act's substance?
No — sub-section (1) limits it to provisions “not inconsistent with” the Act, meaning it's for resolving genuine implementation difficulties, not for making substantive policy changes.

Related sections

Section 44 — Amendments to Certain Acts

Continue to the next section in sequence.

Read Section 44

Section 42 — Power to Amend Schedule

Go back to the previous section.

Read Section 42

Chapter IX — Miscellaneous

See every section in this chapter together.

View the chapter

Full DPDP Act Guide

Back to the overview page, with the complete section-by-section guide.

View all 44 sections