India AI regulation and ethics development

In India, legal and regulatory bodies are moving toward establishing frameworks for the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

The Supreme Court of India has advised the central government to consider binding guidelines for AI ethics and transparency. This follows a petition filed by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, which seeks the disclosure of high-risk AI systems used in government sectors like policing, welfare, surveillance, and content regulation. The petition calls for a high-powered expert committee to establish mandatory algorithmic impact assessments, bias audits, and ‘human-in-the-loop’ oversight. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana noted the technical nature of these policy issues, advising the petitioner to submit the request as a representation to authorities and encouraging the government to consider the proposed measures.

Concurrently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is advancing plans to regulate AI and ML within the capital markets. SEBI is preparing a framework that will utilize a tiered approach based on risk levels. This framework will mandate human oversight, enhanced data controls, and ‘kill-switch’ mechanisms to halt systems behaving abnormally. These developments follow a previous circular requiring mutual funds to report on their use of AI applications for operations, investment strategies, or compliance. SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has emphasized that regulated entities remain fully responsible for all AI or ML tools used, whether developed in-house or by third parties.