India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 set what any service hosting other people’s content must do about complaints. An amendment notified as G.S.R. 120(E) on 10 February 2026, in force since 20 February 2026, tightened the clock. Many published policies still quote the older limits.

What changed

Duty Before Now
Acknowledge a grievance 24 hours 24 hours (unchanged)
Resolve a grievance 15 days 7 days
Act on a request to remove content under rule 3(1)(b) 72 hours 36 hours
Take down intimate images, nudity or impersonation 24 hours 2 hours
Act on a court order or reasoned government intimation 36 hours 3 hours
Remind users of the rules once a year every three months

What a service must publish

  • The rules, the privacy policy and the user agreement, prominently, in English or a language of the Eighth Schedule (rule 3(1)(a)).
  • The grievance officer’s name and contact details, and how to complain, on the home page or one step from it (rule 3(2)(a)).
  • A way to receive the urgent complaints — intimate imagery and impersonation — that must be acted on within 2 hours (rules 3(2)(b) and 3(2)(c)).
  • The right of appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee, within 30 days (rule 3A).

How we adopted it

Our grievance officer page states the current limits, gives the urgent route its own clearly marked section, and is linked from the footer of every page. Our acceptable use rules list all eleven items of rule 3(1)(b) in plain words, and our privacy policy uses the same timelines.

Counsel has not yet reviewed these pages, and each says so at the top.

Sources

Every figure in this article is recorded with its source and the date it was checked. More insights.