India: Adopted financial data localisation requirement in Companies (Accounts) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2022

On 5 August 2022, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs adopted the Companies (Accounts) Fourth Amendment Rules 2022, amending the data localisation requirements for “books of accounts” under Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014. In particular, the Amendment will require “books of account” and documents containing relevant information related to them stored in electronic form to remain “accessible in India, at all times.” Furthermore, the Amendment will require the back-ups of “books of account” kept in electronic form, including those outside the country, to be stored on a “daily basis” in “servers physically located in India”, not only periodically (as required previously). Finally, the Amendment will require providers that are not located within the country to provide information on the person in control of the “books of account” in the country. The Amendment will be implemented on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette.