The Central Government provides a Grievance Appellate Committee to IT Rules 2021 through an amendment

A significant change to the grievance redressal mechanism under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021 has been brought by the Central government.

The Central government published the Amendment Rules, 2022, in the official gazette. The amendment is the setting up of the Grievance Appellate Committee (Committee).

As per Rule 3A (2), each Grievance Appellate Committee shall consist of a chairperson and one member, an ex-officio two shall be independent members appointed by the Central Government.

Any party/person aggrieved by a decision of the Grievance Officer may appeal to the Committee within thirty days from the date of communication from the Grievance Officer.

The Rules also clarify that if the committee feels necessary, it may seek assistance from any qualified person having expertise in the subject matter.

Further, the filing of an appeal and the decision of the committee would be conducted through digital mode.

The amendment also puts the responsibility on social media intermediaries to guarantee that users comply with due diligence requirements laid down under the IT Rules, 2021.