Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, launched the Grievance Appellate Committee portal on 28-February-2023 in New Delhi. Sh. Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary MEITY, Grievance Appellant Committee Chairpersons, Members Sh. Amit Agrawal, Additional Secretary MEITY, senior officers from MEITY, NIC and representatives from Social Media platforms were present during the launch ceremony.
Hon'ble Minister, Sh. Rajeev Chandrasekhar interacted with the representatives of the Social Media platforms and expressed hope that the GAC platform will help in protecting the interests of users (Digital Nagriks) and act as a bridge in resolving their issues.
The Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC) are established under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 [IT Rules], made under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The IT Rules require social media and other intermediaries to observe due diligence by making reasonable efforts to cause their users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information as specified in rule 3(1)(b). The IT Rules and GAC aim to ensure a Safe, Trusted and Accountable Internet for Indian users. The GAC deals with the appeals of Digital Nagriks aggrieved by decisions of Grievance Officers of social media intermediaries and other intermediaries on complaints of users or victims against violation of the IT Rules and any other matters pertaining to the computer resources made available by the intermediaries.
The GAC is an online dispute resolution mechanism. The entire appeal process, from filing to decision, is in digital mode. GAC endeavours to resolve appeals within 30 days. It has three interfaces, namely for Citizens, Intermediaries and three GAC Committees. For Government officials, the portal is SSO enabled. It will be enriched by adding a Mobile App for citizens for easy filing of appeals and Hindi version.
The software has been designed and developed by NIC Himachal Pradesh State Centre in consultation with MEITY and NIC Hqrs.
