# AI rules in India India has no AI-specific statute; it governs AI through principle-based MeitY guidelines, binding deepfake-labelling duties in the IT Rules, the phased DPDP privacy regime and sector regulators (RBI, SEBI, ICMR). - **Approach:** Sector regulators and guidelines - **Key bodies:** MeitY, IndiaAI Mission, Data Protection Board of India, RBI, SEBI, ICMR, CERT-In - **Strategy:** [IndiaAI Mission](https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2012355) (2024) - **Last reviewed:** 4 Oct 2026 ## Rules (10) - [AI Governance Guidelines](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-meity-ai-governance-guidelines-2025/index.md): In force, Guideline, effective 5 Nov 2025. Principle-based national framework built on seven 'sutras' (e.g. trust, people first, innovation over restraint) that relies on existing laws rather than a new AI statute. It recommends new institutions (an AI Governance Group, a Technology & Policy Expert Committee and an AI Safety Institute), voluntary industry measures, techno-legal tools and a national AI incident database. - [IT Rules SGI/deepfake amendment](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-it-rules-amendment-sgi-2026/index.md): In force, Regulation, effective 20 Feb 2026. Defines 'synthetically generated information' (AI-made or altered audio/visual content that appears real) and requires intermediaries that enable its creation or sharing to prevent unlawful SGI, label it prominently and embed permanent metadata/unique identifiers. Significant social media intermediaries must collect user declarations on whether content is synthetic, verify them technically and label before publication; takedown timelines were cut (3 hours on government/court orders, 2 hours for non-consensual intimate imagery). - [Draft IT Rules Second Amendment](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-it-rules-draft-second-amendment-2026/index.md): In consultation, Regulation. Draft rules that would make compliance with MeitY clarifications, advisories, directions, SOPs and codes of practice part of intermediaries' due-diligence duties (new Rule 3(4)), tied to safe-harbour. A revised draft of 21 Apr 2026 added a requirement for a continuous, clearly visible label on synthetically generated visual content for its full duration. - [DPDP Act & Rules](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-dpdp-act-2023-and-rules-2025/index.md): Partly in force, Law, effective 13 Nov 2025. India's horizontal data protection law, governing how 'data fiduciaries' (including AI developers and deployers) collect and process digital personal data, with consent, notice, security, breach-notification and data-principal rights. The DPDP Rules 2025 (notified 13/14 Nov 2025) operationalise it in phases: Data Protection Board provisions immediately, Consent Managers after 12 months and the main obligations after 18 months. - [RBI FREE-AI Framework](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-rbi-free-ai-framework-2025/index.md): In force, Guideline. RBI committee report setting 7 'sutras' and 26 recommendations under six pillars for AI use by banks, NBFCs and other regulated entities, including board-approved AI policies, AI incident reporting, disclosure to customers and an AI innovation sandbox. It is a framework report, not binding directions. - [RBI draft Model Risk Management guidance](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-rbi-model-risk-management-guidance-draft-2026/index.md): In consultation, Guideline. Draft RBI guidance covering governance of all models, including AI/ML and generative AI, used by commercial and co-operative banks, NBFCs, all-India financial institutions, ARCs and credit information companies. It builds on the 2024 draft on credit-model risk and the FREE-AI report, addressing explainability, bias, drift, hallucination, human oversight and customer disclosure of AI use. - [SEBI Reg 16C (AI responsibility)](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-sebi-ai-responsibility-reg-16c-2025/index.md): In force, Regulation, effective 10 Feb 2025. Makes every SEBI-regulated person that uses AI/ML tools – whether built in-house or bought from third parties – solely responsible for investor data privacy and security, for the outputs of those tools, and for compliance with applicable law. Parallel amendments apply to stock exchanges/clearing corporations and depositories. - [ICMR AI health ethics guidelines](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-icmr-ai-health-ethics-guidelines-2023/index.md): In force, Guideline. Ethical principles and stakeholder responsibilities for developing, validating, deploying and adopting AI in biomedical research and healthcare in India, including ethics-committee review processes and informed-consent requirements for AI-based research. - [IndiaAI Mission](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-indiaai-mission-2024/index.md): In force, Strategy. National programme approved by the Union Cabinet with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore to build AI compute (subsidised GPU access via public-private partnership), datasets (AIKosh), foundation models, skills and 'Safe & Trusted AI' projects. By Feb 2026 the government reported over 38,000 GPUs onboarded. - [ANI v OpenAI (interim ruling)](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-delhi-hc-ani-v-openai-2026/index.md): In force, Court ruling, effective 24 Jul 2026. The Delhi High Court refused ANI's application for an interim injunction against OpenAI, holding prima facie that storing ANI's articles to train the LLMs behind ChatGPT falls within the fair-dealing exception in Section 52(1)(a) of the Copyright Act and that ChatGPT's RAG-based outputs were not substantially similar to ANI's works. The findings are expressly prima facie; the substantive questions go to trial. ## Upcoming deadlines - 13 Nov 2026: Consent Manager registration framework (Rule 4) comes into force ([DPDP Act & Rules](https://wheresthe.ai/rule/in-dpdp-act-2023-and-rules-2025/index.md)) ## Programmes and facts - IndiaAI Mission: ₹10,371.92 crore outlay approved by Cabinet on 7 Mar 2024 - Over 38,000 GPUs onboarded to the subsidised national compute facility (PIB, Feb 2026) - India AI Impact Summit, New Delhi (Feb 2026): New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact endorsed by 88 countries and international organisations - India AI Governance Guidelines (Nov 2025) recommend an AI Governance Group, Technology & Policy Expert Committee and AI Safety Institute --- Canonical page: https://wheresthe.ai/j/in/ · Not legal advice.