Right to Digital Empowerment (RiDE): Legal Foundation and Future Direction

Executive Summary

India’s digital economy is expanding rapidly as digital technologies permeate public administration, private enterprise, and everyday life. Central to this transformation is the State’s emphasis on digital public infrastructure (DPI), which has become increasingly ubiquitous, and in many cases de facto mandatory, through initiatives such as Aadhaar-based authentication and the migration of citizen services to online platforms. Originally introduced to streamline Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) and improve the delivery of e-governance services, Aadhaar has gradually evolved into a foundational component of routine socio-economic transactions. Since the first Aadhaar number was issued on September 29, 2010, an entire generation of Indians has grown up in an environment where DPI is embedded in daily interactions. This paper posits that persons born in India after this date are referred to as “DPI Natives,” for whom digital literacy will be a critical aspect of foundational literacy competency.

The ongoing expansion of digitalisation raises several policy questions, foremost among which are those of resource adequacy and institutional capacity to support a digital way of life. One aspect of this is the need for universal and uninterrupted internet access. Universalising internet has been a long-standing aspiration articulated by Indian policymakers. To meet this goal, the Government of India (GoI) has launched multiple initiatives, such as the National Broadband Plan, 2004, the National Telecommunication Policy (NTP), 2012, the National Digital Communication Policy, 2018, and the National Broadband Mission (NBM), 2019. Various steps taken under GoI’s Digital India Programme have also enabled the digitalisation of governance and various citizen services. As a result, telecom infrastructure and mobile penetration in India have expanded sharply in recent decades.

However, while overall mobile ownership and internet adoption have expanded, access, availability, and affordability of mobile phones and internet in India remain iniquitous along the historical fault lines of gender, geography, and income. These inequities are compounded by governance challenges such as frequent and prolonged internet shutdowns, which disrupt access to essential services and undermine digital participation.

In a socio-economically and culturally diverse country such as India, this digital divide is often a manifestation of underlying systemic problems. As digital systems build on existing ones, it becomes necessary to reassess patterns of resource distribution and public policy design. Poorly conceived or unevenly implemented digital governance risks exacerbating pre-existing inequities and undermining the transformative potential of digital technology.

This paper finds that while India has made significant progress in infrastructure expansion, policy measures specifically aimed at digital inclusion, in terms of connectivity, affordability, and digital literacy, remain inadequate. It recommends a rights-based approach to address these gaps through a statutory Right to Digital Empowerment (RiDE), centred on two foundational entitlements:

• Right to universal and uninterrupted (24X7) internet access, including essential digital resources;
• Right to digital literacy.

Targeted financial measures, such as support for device ownership among low-income households, are recommended as necessary complements to these rights.

This paper discusses the suitability of the rights framework by analysing the existing distribution of digital resources, along with the relevant governance framework, including that on internet shutdowns. Based on its review of existing programmes on digital literacy, the paper observes significant gaps in digital literacy among children as well as adults. The paper recommends that a comprehensive digital literacy programme should be a part of the RiDE. The paper argues that digital literacy must also be included within the definitional scope of foundational literacy, changingFoundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) to Foundational Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy (FLN+D). This FLN+D should henceforth form the basis of all literacy programmes of GoI.

The paper argues for a rights-based approach that is not only consistent with existing legal doctrine but is in fact necessary in light of the mandatory nature of DPIs (like Aadhaar) for availing critical citizen-services (like DBT). It notes that digital empowerment is critical to achieving growth of the digital economy. The paper demonstrates that there exists a strong fiscal support for these initiatives via the existing Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), which currently stands under-utilised due to poor administrative design and absence of appropriate legislative direction. International experience, particularly the evolution of the UK’s universal service obligations into an enforceable right, illustrates the suitability of a rights-based model for internet access. India’s own experience on rights-based welfare legislation, including the right to education, the right to information, and the right to food, among others, has remained exemplar. A statutory framework empowering citizens to gain meaningful internet access on demand would provide the missing link in India’s universal internet connectivity policy measures. To that end, this paper recommends the creation of such a framework in the form of a RiDE Act through parliamentary legislation.