Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao has raised serious concerns over the Centre’s proposed Income Tax Bill, 2025, calling it a grave threat to the digital privacy of all citizens.
The former Telangana minister for information technology condemned the provisions of the new bill, which he believes signal an alarming overreach by the government under the pretext of tax enforcement.
“Centre’s new IT Act poses a serious threat to digital privacy of all citizens. The new Income Tax Bill seeks to grant IT officials unchecked access to social media, emails, and online trading accounts under the guise of tax scrutiny. This unprecedented invasion of ‘virtual digital spaces’ could lead to harassment, misuse, and mass surveillance,” said KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known.
“With financial data already subject to multiple reporting mechanisms, this draconian intrusion tramples on citizens’ fundamental rights and digital privacy. Who will hold officials accountable if there is any misuse of this overreaching provision? The PM and FM must answer,” added KTR.
The Income Tax Bill, introduced in February 2025, significantly expands tax authorities’ powers beyond the Income Tax Act, 1961. Section 247 allows officials to access and search any “virtual digital space” — broadly defined under Section 261(i) as social media, emails, and online accounts — if tax evasion is suspected, effective April 1, 2026. This permits overriding digital security without clear safeguards, unlike the current law’s focus on physical assets. Legal experts warn of potential privacy violations under Article 21, as upheld in the 2017 Puttaswamy judgment.
KTR criticised the bill as an excessive intrusion, arguing existing surveillance suffices and demanding accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on regulating these powers. He called it a “blatant assault on digital rights” and urged citizens and opposition to oppose the bill, seeking amendments to balance tax enforcement with privacy protection.
(IANS)
