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What is a Consent Manager?
A Consent Manager is a special entity or software platform in India that has been set up to comply with Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. Its main jobis to act as a bridge between the Data Principal (the individual) and the Data Fiduciary (the business).
Starting November 13, 2026, new DPDP rules that was released in Novemeber 2025 will mandate how will the consent managers work. It will give power to users to review, manage, and withdraw consent via a single, transparent interface, meanwhile ensuring that businesses comply strictly with data privacy laws.
What is the role of a Consent Manager?
A Consent Manager is supposed to look at the technical and operational parts of DPDP Act by providing:
- Gathering consent from all platforms: Gather consent from websites, mobile apps, WhatsApp etc and make a central repository for it.
- Generate Audit Trails: Keep a log of every consent collected with its timestamp, purpose of consent while creating a proper trail in case it gets audited in future.
- Hassle-free Integration: Connects with existing CRM, ERP, and marketing automation tools to ensure data processing matches user preferences.
- Giving people control: Giving users a dashboard to view, modify and revoke consent for the data they wish to share.
How to become a Consent Managers?
To become a consent manager, one should register with the Data Protection Board (DPB). DPDP Rules has mandated the registration window to become effective on November 13, 2026.
Eligibility Criteria
- Based in India: Must be an Indian company or a company incorporated within India.
- Financial Required: A minimum of ₹2 crore net worth is needed.
- Technically sound: Follow the standards set by the DPB for how system works
- Clarity on who is in charge: Management must be clean and transparent and if you have any shareholder, they must have more than 2% equity in the company that must be publicly disclosed.
How do you register
To register for consent manager, you need to follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Submit your documents to the Data Protection Board
Step 2: Board will review your application based on your technical capability and your finances
Step 3: If the board finds you a strong fit based on their review of your application, you will be listed on the official website. If you are rejected during the review, board will send you the rejection letter along with the justification.
What are the obligations of Consent Managers?
Consent Managers MUST always act in the best interest of the user. Their primary obligations include:
- Keeping data safe: Ensuring that the user's personal data is encrypted so that even a consent manager cannot see it.
- Maintaining Records: Maintaining detailed records of data sharing and consent collection for the last 7 years.
- Transparency: Give users a clear record of their consent history in a format that they can understand easily.
- Maintaining Security: Prevent data breaches through regular audits.
Beyond Consent: Complete Compliance Management
Consent Management is not limited to just managing consent, it rather has a broader DPDP requirement:
- Data Principal Rights: Managing user requests for accessing information, data correction, and data erasure.
- Grievance Redressal: Providing a proper channel for users to report data that is getting mishandled.
- Right to Nominate: Allowing users to appoint a person to manage their data in case the users is dead or incapacitated.
- Automated Data Retention: Helping businesses to delete data once the "purpose of collecting data" has been fulfilled.
- Third-Party Oversight: Coordinating for data deletion across a business’s entire vendor ecosystem when a user withdraws consent.
What does existing models of Consent Management in India looks like?
While the DPDP Act has specified a universal framework, several sector-specific models already exist:
Why does your business need a Consent Manager?
Having a Consent Manager in your business is going to bring significant advantage.
- Avoid Massive Fines: Non-compliance with DPDP Act can lead to heavy penalties ranging from ₹50 crore to ₹250 crore.
- Build Customer Trust: Users are more likely to engage with brands that offer clear control over their privacy.
- Operational Ease: Automates consent tracking across different departments in your business.
- Audit Readiness: Get reports in a single click for your regulatory reviews and internal audits.
How to onboard a Consent Manager?
You can onboard a Consent Manager for your business in 5 simple steps:
Step 1: Identify where your organisation stores personal data of users
Step 2: Audit your existing consent forms and see if it fits the current DPDP Standards.
Step 3: Align your legal, IT and marketing team
Step 4: Choose a Consent Managemnet Provider that ensures easy integration and scalability.
Step 5: Test out the system with a small user group to identify any bugs or technical loopholes and fix on priority. You can the roll it out to the wider group.
Why choose Consent Management by Consentin?
Consentin provides a one of a kind Consent Infrastructure designed by legal and compliance experts. We help large enterprises like IIFL Finance and Union Bank understand and navigate the DPDP Act. Consentin offers a holistic Consent Infrastructure that integrates easily with your existing systems be it your CRM, ERP, or marketing tools, Consentin ensures compliance across all touchpoints without disrupting your operations.
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