India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDPA”) marks a significant step in enhancing digital privacy by introducing Consent Managers, which will act as an intermediary facilitating consent management between Data Principals and Data Fiduciaries. These entities will provide a platform for users to give, review, and revoke consent, thereby enhancing user control while reducing the administrative burden on businesses.


The European Union (EU), under the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and the United States under the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") use Consent Management Platforms ("CMPs") for similar functions. However, India's approach is distinct due to its centralized regulation through the Data Protection Board of India (“DPB”) and its cross sectoral integration, setting it apart from the decentralized models.


This article explores the Consent Manager framework under DPDPA, comparing it with global approaches, identifying potential implementation challenges, and evaluating its effectiveness in ensuring data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.


1. Who is a Consent Manager?

Under the DPDPA and the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“Rules”), a Consent Manager is a registered entity facilitating seamless consent management by providing a transparent and interoperable platform for Data Principals to manage their consent effectively.

If implemented successfully, the Consent Manager could be a game-changer for India’s digital landscape, particularly helping the Data Principals who are unfamiliar with today’s digital world. Consent Managers would be especially valuable in industries like healthcare, financial services, and e-commerce, where people interact with multiple service providers.


A. Qualification requirements under the Draft DPDPA Rules

To operate as a Consent Manager under DPDPA, the entity must:

  1. Be an Indian company with a minimum net worth of 2 crores and a robust technical infrastructure.
  2. Have directors and key personnel with reputation for fairness and integrity.
  3. Ensure its Memorandum and Articles of Association reflect data protection commitments, and any amendments thereto shall be subject to prior approval from the DPB.
  4. Comply with DPB prescribed data protection standards and implement encryption, secure APIs, and controlled access mechanisms.
  5. Maintain neutrality, and not have any financial or operational ties with Data Fiduciaries. Promoters, directors, and key personnel of the Consent Manager must not hold directorships, stakes, or employment in any Data Fiduciary.
  6. Retain full accountability by prohibiting outsourcing of any of its core responsibilities.


2. How Consent Managers Differ from Global Approaches

India's Consent Manager framework introduces a centralized, regulated model unlike GDPR and CCPA. While GDPR and CCPA primarily rely on business to manage their own consent mechanisms, DPDPA enables the use of regulated intermediaries for consent management, providing a structured compliance mechanism.


A. Regulated Intermediaries Vs Business Led Compliance

  • DPDPA requires Consent Managers to be registered with the DPB and comply with strict financial, technical, and governance requirements, subjecting Consent Managers to regulatory audits. On the other hand, under GDPR and CCPA, allows the CMPs to be unregulated and function merely as a service provider to the businesses.


B. Interoperability and Cross-Sectoral Integration

  • The DPDPA mandates that Consent Managers provide an “interoperable platform” that facilitates seamless consent management across various industries, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and social media.
  • This approach similar to India’s Account Aggregator (AA) framework in the financial sector, which allows users to manage access to their financial data across different institutions through a unified system. Unlike DPDPA, GDPR and CCPA do not mandate cross-sectoral interoperability. Some GDPR-compliant CMPs allow businesses to share consent preferences, but there is no legal requirement for a standardized, interoperable framework.


3. Challenges and Concerns with Implementing Consent Managers

While the Consent Manager framework under DPDPA introduces a structured approach to consent management, its implementation poses several challenges for Data Fiduciaries, Data Processors, Consent Managers, regulators, and Data Principals.


A. Interoperability and Integration Challenges

  • The DPDPA requires Consent Managers to develop interoperable platforms that operate across industries such as finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and telecom. However, achieving seamless integration is challenging, as each sector follows different data formats, technical protocols, and consent collection methods. The absence of uniform standards for data exchange and interoperability will make it difficult to establish a centralized consent framework that functions effectively across all businesses and platform.


B. Data Security and Cybersecurity Risks

  • Centralizing consent management comes with security risks, as Consent Managers will be responsible for handling vast amounts of sensitive user data. This concentration of data makes them attractive targets for cyber threats, creating a significant challenge in ensuring robust security measures to prevent breaches and unauthorized access.


C. Compliance Costs for Businesses

  • While Consent Managers are intended to reduce compliance burdens, integrating with them may require significant technical upgrades and financial investments for businesses. Companies will need to modify their data handling processes, ensure real-time consent synchronization, and maintain compliance with Consent Manager protocols. For businesses already struggling with data protection compliance costs, this could introduce additional financial and operational strain.


D. Absence of Business Restriction for Consent Managers

  • Unlike the Account Aggregator (AA) framework, which explicitly restricts Account Aggregators from engaging in any business other than the business of account aggregator, the DPDPA and its Draft Rules does not provide for a similar explicit language.


4. Best Practices for Effective Implementation of Consent Managers

For Consent Managers to effectively serve their purpose under the DPDPA, it’s crucial to establish best practices that address key challenges like interoperability, security, regulatory oversight, and user trust. The success of this Consent Manager framework depends on a collaborative effort between the DPB, Data Fiduciaries, Data Processors, and Consent Managers to ensure that user data is managed securely, transparently, and efficiently.


A. Standardized Interoperability Framework

  • To ensure seamless integration across multiple industries, Consent Managers should adopt a standardized API framework that enables real-time consent synchronization across Data Fiduciaries. Learning from the Account Aggregator (AA) model in the financial sector, where a unified data-sharing standard was developed, a similar interoperability protocol should be mandated for Consent Managers. The DPB should establish technical standards that require businesses to integrate with Consent Managers through secure and standardized interfaces.


B. User-Centric Transparency & Consent Logs

  • One of the major concerns with digital consent management is the lack of transparency in how data is processed. To improve user confidence, Consent Managers should provide users with detailed, real-time logs showing:


  1. Which businesses have access to their data.
  2. The exact purposes for which data is being used.
  3. The ability to revoke or modify consent instantly.


Consent Managers should develop a user dashboard with multilingual support and intuitive interfaces, ensuring that even users with low digital literacy can easily manage their consents.


C. Cross-Border Data Governance & Consent Enforcement

  • Managing international data transfers requires clear guidelines due to the cross-border nature of data processing. Unlike GDPR and CCPA, which have established frameworks, India lacks enforcement mechanisms for foreign entities. While the DPB may set consent revocation requirements, ensuring compliance outside Indian jurisdiction remains a challenge.
  • Without international agreements, foreign businesses are not obligated to honor consent withdrawal directives from Indian Consent Managers. Even if consent revocation is directed, foreign processors are not legally bound unless mandated by governing regulations.
  • To resolve this, the DPB should collaborate with global regulators to establish agreements for enforcing consent revocation. Mandating Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) for cross-border transfers would enhance compliance with DPDP.
  • Without such safeguards, Indian Consent Managers may face significant enforcement challenges, particularly with multinational corporations or foreign-based platforms that process personal data beyond the jurisdictional reach of Indian regulators.


D. Automated AI-Based Consent Monitoring

  • As businesses deal with millions of consent records, manual monitoring will not be feasible. AI-driven compliance tools should be integrated into Consent Managers, allowing for automated detection of anomalies, such as:


  1. Data Fiduciaries failing to implement consent withdrawal.
  2. Unauthorized third-party access to user consent records.
  3. Detection of consent fraud or deceptive practices (e.g., forced consents).


 AI-driven risk assessment should be used to detect non-compliant entities in real-time, allowing DPB to take swift enforcement actions.


5. NovoJuris’ Observations

The Consent Manager framework under the DPDPA is a significant step toward streamlined and user-centric data privacy. By centralizing consent management, it enhances user control, regulatory compliance, and business efficiency. However, its success depends on strong enforcement, interoperability, security safeguards, and industry-wide adoption.


India’s Consent Manager framework under DPDPA offers a centralized, regulated approach that enhances user control, business compliance, and interoperability. While challenges remain in security, enforcement, and adoption, strong regulatory oversight and business collaboration can position India as a global leader in digital privacy governance.