The Delhi High Court in Dabur India Limited V. Ashok Kumar And Ors And Other Connected Matters to curb the proliferation of imposter domain names directed various domain name registrars (DNRs) to appoint grievance officers in compliance of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 within a period of one week. In case there is compliance failure, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will be free to proceed in accordance with the law against such DNRs who have been offering their domain name registration, hosting and related services in India, without complying with the local laws.
During the hearing of the case, certain other evils of imposter domain names affecting the general public as well as the brand/business owners were brought to the notice of the Hon'ble Court. Most important one being that whenever payments for the purchase of domain names are accepted, there is frequently a mismatch between the name of the account holder of the bank account in the bank records, and the name given in the billing details at the time of purchase using the same bank account. There is currently no verification to check that the name of the account holder is the same as the name entered at the time of purchase.
Various parties apprised the Court about the Grievance officers being appointed by the DNRs, however, the counsel for GoDaddy LLC apprised the Court that he was unable to obtain instructions as to whether any grievance officer has been appointed in terms of Rule 3 of the IT Rules, 2021.
Deferring the matter to December 1, the Court observed that “If the said DNRs have not appointed Grievance Officers, one week’s time shall be given to them for making the appointments in accordance with the IT Rules, 2021. If the said compliance is not made by DNRs, MeitY is free to proceed in accordance with law against such DNRs who are offering their domain name registration, hosting and related services in India, without complying with the local laws. A status report be put up by MeitY by the next date, on this aspect including the steps taken by MeitY pursuant to the directions contained above.”