India’s Nasscom calls for special cybercrimes court

India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has asked the Indian government to set up a special court to try cybercrimes and other offenses under the country’s Information Technology Act 2000.

Having a special court will ensure that trials of cybercrime cases will be faster than in ordinary Indian courts, said Sunil Mehta, vice president of Nasscom, on Thursday. Indian court case drag on for an average of about three years, he added. None of the trials of persons charged in India for data fraud have as yet come for conviction and sentencing, Mehta said.

The Indian government is considering Nasscom’s request, according to Mehta. A special court will ensure that the judges are conversant with the technical issues involved in cybercrimes, Mehta said. Special courts will also be able to bring in amicus curiae or “friends of the court” who can advise the judge on cybercrimes’ technical issues, he added.

Nasscom of Delhi has worked with law enforcement agencies like the Indian police to make them aware of the nature of cybercrimes and how to investigate them. A number of police stations in the country now have specialized cybercrime cells to deal with offenses under the Information Technology Act.

The request for a special court is part of a multi-pronged strategy by Nasscom to strengthen data protection and privacy in India’s outsourcing industry. Nasscom’s initiatives come in the wake of allegations in the U.S. and U.K. that Indian call center workers have stolen and sold data processed by Indian outsourcing companies. The record of India’s outsourcing industry in protecting customer data and privacy is better than in the U.S., according to Mehta.

Nasscom is setting up later this year a watchdog organization that will focus on the introduction and monitoring of best data security and privacy practices in the country’s IT services, call center and business process outsourcing industries.

The organization is called a self-regulatory organization (SRO) by Nasscom, as it is expected to operate on revenue from its services delivered to member companies that will not have any control over its operations.

Besides monitoring the industry, the SRO will attempt to create a culture that respects privacy and data protection, Mehta said. The SRO will also mediate between outsourcers and their customers for resolving any conflicts that arise in their relationships, he added.

Nasscom set up in January a National Skills Registry that enables businesses to conduct employee background checks. About 24 Indian and multinational companies with Indian offshore service operations have signed up for the service. Approximately 20,000 employees are listed on the registry. India’s outsourcing industry is, however, hiring staff in thousands each month, and a number of companies hire workers without insisting that they sign up with the registry. “We cannot mandate that companies follow the procedure, but we are pushing hard,” Mehta said.

Nasscom has also started a test for applicants to the Indian outsourcing industry, to screen out candidates that lack the skills required by the country’s call centers, business process outsourcing and software services companies.