Deepro Guha

Lawyer. Public Policy Consultant. Sports geek.

[The Quantum Hub @tqh_policy]

The Quantum Hub (@tqh_policy) is pleased to invite you to the launch of DAKSH’s (@daksh_india) landmark report “State of Tribunals 2025: A Baseline Report on India’s Commercial Tribunals”. The report is part of DAKSH’s Transforming Tribunals Project.

Commercial tribunals play a critical role in India’s ease of doing business vision, serving as a vital link to ensure investor confidence, business liquidity, and timely resolution of disputes. Originally envisioned to deliver speed, expertise, and investor confidence, commercial tribunals today face persistent challenges, including high pendency, locked-up capital, chronic vacancies, and governance gaps. DAKSH’s baseline report maps these pressures across commercial tribunals, including the NCLT, NCLAT, APTEL, ITAT, CESTAT, SAT, DRT, DRAT, and GSTAT, and proposes pathways to strengthen their functioning.

This event will include:
● A Keynote Address by Justice N Seshasayee, Hon’ble member of NCLAT,
● A presentation of Daksh’s findings from the project
● A high-level panel discussion with eminent experts:
Justice Shiva Kirti Singh, Former Supreme Court Judge & Ex-Chairperson, TDSAT
Dr. Sanjeev Gemawat, Managing Director & Group General Counsel, @Essar Group, and Treasurer, GCAI
Ms. Aparna Ravi, Partner, S&R Associates
Mr. Sumant Batra, Insolvency Lawyer and Past President, @INSOLIntl
Mr. Harish Narasappa, Senior Advocate & Founder, @daksh_india

📍 Venue: Central Delhi (details shared upon registration)
🗓️ Thursday, September 25
🕔5 pm onwards

Please RSVP to register: https://t.co/C3h8SY9eWs

#StateOfTribunals #TransformingTribunals
#JusticeReform #CommercialAdjudication
#EaseOfDoingBusiness #JudicialEfficiency #TribunalReforms #AccessToJustice
#LegalReformIndia #DAKSHInitiative

[TheICCT_India @TheICCT_India]

🚌“There is a lot of confusion regarding the legalities of operations when it comes to permit systems and taxation concerns loom large. All states need to work towards streamlining taxation concerns and adoption of All India Transport Permit to streamline operations.”

@GuhaDeepro, Associate Director, The Quantum Hub

[Rohit Kumar @rohitkr_RK]

The Parliament just passed the Online Gaming Bill - without debate. Since yesterday, my colleague @GuhaDeepro and I spoke to several journalists across leading publications to share our perspective on this move.

The biggest problem with this legislation is the disregard for #dueprocess — and the sheer haste with which it was pushed through Parliament. The online gaming industry has long faced regulatory uncertainty, but abrupt reversals - praising startups for jobs and investment one day, then announcing a ban the next - are the most damaging. While addressing harms has to be a paramount concern - and clear regulation must be adopted - abrupt moves like this undermine India's reputation as a stable, predictable investment destination.

Given that the Bill has already been passed, the least the government can do now is provide a reasonable #transitionperiod - giving companies space to repurpose investments into permissible areas and adapt to the new regime. Equally critical is a robust system to track and curb offshore illegal betting platforms, which otherwise stand to gain from the disruption.

The government has cited employment potential in the new Bill, but its real impact on jobs remains unclear. India’s gaming ecosystem is symbiotic: while money games attract capital, talent, and drive innovation in tech and compliance, the non-money sector benefits from these spillovers in design, monetisation models, and rotating talent pools. Curtailing money games could therefore indirectly stifle growth across non-money segments, weakening the sector as a whole.

Without a transition plan, the fallout will be severe: companies risk losing customers, laying off workers, and shelving innovation, while offshore operators swoop in - undermining both consumer protection and government revenues.

#OnlineGaming @tqh_policy

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

How does India regain control of digital distribution channels? Can antitrust regulations help, or does innovation need to be specifically directed towards this solution (like DPIs maybe)?

https://t.co/xFPEBm0Jwi

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

@IndiGo6E My 6E rewards have dissappeared from the new BluChip account. I had over 20000 rewards. Yur customer care says they can't fix this. This is daylight robbery. Please have someone senior look into this. this is out and out fraud.

@jagograhakjago

[Rohit Kumar @rohitkr_RK]

Public Tech meets Active Citizenship in New York!

Thrilled to announce this powerful collaboration between @ylacofficial, @haqdarshak, @YouthKiAwaaz, @IndusAction, @ReapBenefit, @RNP_Foundation, @C4EC_Foundation, and @Acumen as we engage in an essential dialogue during the United Nations General Assembly week.

In today’s fast-paced world, public tech holds immense potential for impact, but human agency—the ability of communities to drive change—remains an under-leveraged force. Imagine combining the power of technology with civic engagement to activate this untapped resource!

On September 27th, we are coming together in New York to explore how civic engagement organizations can help do exactly that.

🗓️ Event Details:
Date: September 27th, 2024
Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Acumen, 40 Worth St, New York
Limited Seats Available – Register Now (link below)

Join @DoegarAniket, @rbkuldeep, @tarunch, @SanjayPurohitM, @anshul_tewari and myself, alongside key public tech foundations from the US and India for a critical conversation on Digital Public Goods (DPG) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

Link to register: https://t.co/aDqc5ggL0Y

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#PublicTech #ActiveCitizenship #CollaborationForImpact #SocialChange #GlobalSouth #DPI #UNGA

@BhartiAparajita @shipra_baduni @GuhaDeepro @sudcurious @sonakshi_93

[Rohit Kumar @rohitkr_RK]

Last week, I spoke with @Aaratrika_11 and @pranesh on @the_hindu's Parley podcast about the liability of owners of digital platforms for user-generated content. We discussed the complexities surrounding #Telegram and the recent arrest of its founder, Pavel Durov. Telegram's approach has certainly allowed individuals in authoritarian regimes to communicate more freely, but there are real-world harms from unregulated online content that must be considered.

Balancing innovation and free speech with mitigating harmful content requires platforms to address illegal activity when reported and put safeguards in place to prevent misuse.

High-profile arrests like Durov’s naturally spark panic, especially when they occur in liberal democracies. But the issue is complex, and we must take a nuanced approach to platform regulation, avoiding simplistic political narratives. Regulation doesn’t have to be a binary choice between #freespeech and government overreach—there are ways to strike a middle path.

With increasing tensions between regulators and platforms (e.g., the recent banning of X in Brazil), there’s growing urgency for platforms to negotiate safeguards with governments to prevent abuses of power on both sides. Ultimately, this debate extends beyond free speech, touching on critical issues of governance, accountability, and the sovereignty of digital spaces.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://t.co/RSQhDNmfFJ

#IntermediaryLiability #DigitalIndiaAct #FreedomofSpeech

@tqh_policy

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

@LiveLawIndia @UpasnaAgrawal01 My reading of the order suggests the judge has just asked the executive authority to apply his mind and give a reasoned order without commenting on the merits of the case. In that regard, your tweet/headline is not accurately representing the order.

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

@IndiGo6E My HDFC 6E Rewards card points have dissappeared and the points are not showing on my indigo profile. Please help with this, customer care seems to not be able to help.

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

The role of digital infrastructure in financial inclusion has been a game changer. Discussions on this and other key aspects of digital financial inclusion were highlights of @CUTS_CCIER's s event last week.

@tqh_policy @DrArunaSharma6
https://t.co/Vnlvkq9Fvl

[The Quantum Hub @tqh_policy]

#TQHReplug
As the #Davos2024 meeting of the World Economic Forum concluded, one key area India found mention in was its Digital Public Infrastructure (#DPI) model that was praised both by Bill Gates and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Development President Chris Elias.

In 2022, The Quantum Hub team (@tqh_policy) authored an Implementation Blue Book titled “Building Digital Ecosystems for India: From Principles to Practice” to codify the DPI approach so that it can be mainstreamed across various sectors and simplified for all government departments.

Download the full report here: https://t.co/ESEdbcr9s7

[Rohit Kumar @rohitkr_RK]

Apple may allow sideloading and other app stores on its mobiles in the EU to comply with the DMA.

Regulators all over the world will surely be watching this development. At @tqh_policy we had done a study earlier with @adif_India that looked at gatekeeping in the mobile OS ecosystem and argued for regulations to create more competition.

The Digital Markets Act in the EU prescribes several of those reforms we suggested for India.

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

See here for article: https://t.co/fc8U92Kpow

@tqh_policy @CCGNLUD @nixxin @urvashi_aneja @ambersinha07

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

Recently, the US FTC for the first time brought an enforcement against algorithmic bias. As other jurisdictions start actioning against such problematic practices, it maybe an appropriate time for India to also do so. I had written on this issue in @EconomicTimes

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

In the attempt to make future proof legislation, are we leaving too much for delegated legislation? I speak to @AshmitTejKumar of @CNBCTV18News regarding this in the context of the Telecom Act

@nixxin @tqh_policy

https://t.co/CEEmXwJpzr

[CNBC-TV18 @CNBCTV18News]

How Telecom Act 2023 impacts end-to-end encryption software like @WhatsApp & @signalapp, @nixxin of @medianama & @GuhaDeepro of @tqh_policy answers.

@AshmitTejKumar

[Business Standard @bsindia]

#BSMorningShow | Govt is rewriting India’s #telecom laws. The Bill text doesn’t have #OTT in the definition of telecom services, but the way it defines telecommunication leaves the possibility of its later inclusion

@maheshuppal @ComFirstIndia @GuhaDeepro
https://t.co/NxqYQEgb6H

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

I spoke to @bsindia about the applicability of the new Telecom Bill. While there has been differences in opinion about what kind of services could be included, just going by the definitions, the ambit of operation of the law seems wide. See link below:

https://t.co/5l572SdWt0

[The Quantum Hub @tqh_policy]

#Hiring | Join us at The Quantum Hub (TQH) to contribute to India's dynamic tech policy landscape! Our portfolio includes several exciting tech policy projects, and we hope to hear from candidates with an interest and prior experience in this area.

We work on cutting-edge issues in tech policy while engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders. We offer strong research expertise along with effective communication and advocacy strategies to our partners and clients.

If this opportunity sounds exciting, you can apply here: https://t.co/nZFmzb2f0S

#PublicPolicy #JobOpening #PolicyOpenings #Opportunities

[Deepro Guha @GuhaDeepro]

Unfortunate reality

https://t.co/WSuDYKCfwy

[Aparajita Bharti @BhartiAparajita]

That is why we need a risk based classification framework that clearly lays out platform obligations based on the risks posed by the platform. Without such guidance, a new #DigitIndiaAct will run into the same issues. @rohitkr_RK @GuhaDeepro #ITrules