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DPDP §12

Right to Nominate

Paraphrased legal text

A Data Principal has the right to nominate, in the prescribed manner, any other individual who shall, in the event of death or incapacity of the Data Principal, exercise the rights of the Data Principal under this Act.

What this means in plain English

  • Every principal can name a nominee who steps into their rights on death or incapacity.
  • The nominee's claim must be honoured the same way the principal's would be.
  • You should capture the nominee designation at the same point you capture consent, or via the preference centre.
  • On incapacity / death notification, the nominee inherits Access, Correction, Erasure and Grievance rights.

Penalty if you get this wrong

Mishandling a nominee request falls under the principal-rights band — up to ₹50 crore.

How ProtectComply solves it

Rights Manager — Nominee flow

  • Nominee designation captured at consent or via the preference centre
  • Public /rights/[org] portal offers a Nominee request type with OTP verification
  • Audit trail links the original principal record to the nominee's actions
  • DPO inbox treats nominee tickets with the same SLA as principal tickets
See the module →

Related

DPDP §11 — Right to Access, Correction, ErasureDPDP Rule 12 (2025) — Exercise of Principal RightsDPDP Rule 13 (2025) — Grievance Resolution Timeline