The Fifth Schedule, read with Rule 18 and Section 20 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, establishes the complete service framework governing the Chairperson and other Members of the Data Protection Board of India. It determines their remuneration, retirement-related benefits, travel entitlements, medical assistance, leave, leave travel concession, conflict-of-interest obligations and other conditions attached to their statutory offices.
The Schedule forms part of the institutional architecture of the Board rather than the compliance framework applicable to Data Fiduciaries. Its purpose is to place the principal service conditions of the Board’s decision-makers on a predetermined and uniform legal footing. This is significant because the Chairperson and Members exercise regulatory and adjudicatory functions that may include examining personal data breaches, issuing binding directions, deciding complaints and imposing monetary penalties. Their terms of service must therefore be sufficiently clear and stable to support continuity, attract appropriately qualified individuals and reduce the possibility of informal or individually negotiated arrangements.
The Fifth Schedule became effective with Rule 18 on 13 November 2025. MeitY’s official DPDP Rules page also records the final Rules and subsequent corrigendum.
The Chairperson is entitled to a consolidated salary of ₹4,50,000 per month, while every other Member is entitled to a consolidated salary of ₹4,00,000 per month. The difference reflects the additional institutional and administrative responsibilities assigned to the Chairperson. The remuneration is expressly provided without the facility of an official house or car. The term “consolidated salary” indicates that the prescribed amount constitutes the fixed monthly remuneration attached to the office and should not be treated as an ordinary government pay-scale appointment carrying every allowance or facility ordinarily associated with a permanent civil-service post.
The Schedule nevertheless uses Levels 17 and 15 of the Central Government pay matrix as reference points for specific travel and leave travel concession entitlements. These references do not alter the consolidated nature of the monthly salary or convert the Chairperson and Members into ordinary Central Government officers at those levels for all purposes. The pay-matrix levels operate as benchmarks for determining particular entitlements expressly connected with them.
The arrangement concerning retirement-related benefits reflects the fixed-tenure nature of membership. The Chairperson and Members may contribute to the Provident Fund of the Board on terms corresponding, with appropriate modifications, to those applicable to the Board’s officers and employees. At the same time, they are not entitled to pension or gratuity for service rendered on the Board. The offices therefore support contributory retirement savings but do not create an additional pension or gratuity entitlement merely by reason of serving a statutory term. Any retirement benefits previously earned through government service, a public-sector entity or another qualifying body remain governed by the legal framework applicable to that previous service and should not be confused with benefits arising from Board membership.
The travel framework recognises that appointment to the Board may require relocation, official travel during tenure and return to the home town after expiry of the term. The Chairperson and Members are therefore entitled to the applicable journey allowance, daily allowance and reimbursement for transportation of personal effects when joining the Board, undertaking official tours within India or proceeding to the home town with family after completion of tenure. These entitlements are measured by reference to Level 17 for the Chairperson and Level 15 for other Members.
Foreign official travel is subject to Central Government guidelines or instructions. Membership of the Board does not itself confer an unrestricted entitlement to undertake international travel at public expense. The travel must be duly authorised and remain connected with the performance of official functions. Once authorised, the relevant allowance is determined by reference to the prescribed pay-matrix level.
Medical assistance is made available through the group health insurance scheme maintained by the Board for its officers, employees and eligible dependants. The actual benefits will therefore depend on the terms, limits and eligibility conditions of that scheme. A Chairperson or Member who has retired from government service, a public-sector entity or a body corporate created by statute and is eligible for medical assistance under the rules applicable to that former service may choose that arrangement instead of the Board’s group health insurance scheme. The Schedule frames this as an alternative, rather than an entitlement to claim simultaneously under both arrangements for the same medical expenses.
The leave framework incorporates specified provisions of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 instead of creating an entirely separate code. The Central Government is the authority competent to sanction leave for the Chairperson, while the Chairperson sanctions leave for other Members. This division maintains external administrative supervision over the Chairperson and gives the Chairperson responsibility for managing the availability of other Members so that the Board can continue functioning effectively.
The categories of leave available are limited to those provisions of the CCS Leave Rules expressly incorporated by the Schedule. The Schedule does not state that every provision of those Rules applies automatically. Conditions governing entitlement, commencement, combination and administration of leave are also imported from the specified provisions. This selective incorporation is important because the Chairperson and Members hold fixed-term statutory offices rather than ordinary permanent posts under the Central Government.
The Central Government may relax an incorporated leave requirement where its operation causes undue hardship in a particular case. Such relaxation must be directed towards dealing with the case justly and equitably and may be made subject to appropriate exceptions or conditions. The relaxation power does not create a general entitlement to depart from the leave framework. It provides flexibility for exceptional cases in which mechanical application of a provision would produce unfair hardship.
Casual leave is available to the extent admissible to Central Government servants under applicable instructions. Earned leave standing to the credit of the Chairperson or Member may also be encashed under the specified provisions and conditions of the CCS Leave Rules. Except for the treatment applicable under Rule 38-A, the maximum encashment under the provisions incorporated by the Schedule is limited to fifty per cent of the earned leave standing to the credit of the individual. The Schedule therefore provides a leave benefit appropriate to a fixed-tenure office while limiting conversion of the complete accumulated leave balance into a monetary entitlement.
Leave travel concession is made available in accordance with the specified provisions of the Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988. The Chairperson’s entitlement corresponds to that of a Level 17 Central Government officer, while the entitlement of another Member corresponds to Level 15. Each is eligible to avail either home-town LTC or LTC to any place in India during a two-year period calculated from the date of assumption of office. The language indicates an alternative between the two forms of LTC within the relevant two-year period, rather than a right to claim both independently during the same period.
These travel, leave and medical provisions create a significant degree of alignment with senior government-service standards while preserving the distinct character of Board membership. The Chairperson and Members receive service benefits suitable for senior statutory office, but they do not become ordinary permanent employees of the Board or members of a civil service solely because parts of the government-service framework are incorporated by reference.
The conflict-of-interest requirement has particular institutional importance. The Chairperson and every Member must ensure the absence of conflicts in performing official functions and must not hold financial or other interests likely to prejudicially affect those functions. This obligation operates in addition to the meeting-specific recusal requirement under Rule 19. Rule 19 addresses participation in a particular item of Board business, while the Fifth Schedule imposes a broader and continuing service condition concerning interests capable of affecting the proper performance of office.
The obligation does not necessarily treat every prior employment, investment or professional association as disqualifying. Its focus is on an interest likely to prejudice the performance of official functions. The Chairperson and Members may be appointed because of their experience in technology, regulation, data governance, law, consumer protection or digital markets, and such experience may naturally involve past professional relationships. The relevant concern is whether a continuing or material interest compromises, or is likely to compromise, impartial performance. Such interests must be identified and managed consistently with the Act, the Rules and the integrity expected of the office.
Specified parts of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 apply, with necessary modifications, as they apply to a Group A Central Civil Services officer. This imports an established disciplinary framework for matters concerning conduct and accountability while recognising that the Chairperson and Members are statutory appointees rather than conventional career civil servants. The expression mutatis mutandis requires the government-service provisions to be adapted to the institutional context of the Board rather than applied mechanically where their terminology or administrative structure does not correspond precisely.
The application of the disciplinary framework must also remain consistent with the provisions of the DPDPA governing disqualification, removal, resignation and tenure. Rules governing service discipline cannot be interpreted in a manner that overrides protections or procedures expressly established by the parent legislation. The Fifth Schedule supplements the statutory framework; it does not replace it.
The Schedule excludes entitlement to a sitting fee for attending Board meetings. Attendance and participation form part of the duties covered by the consolidated salary. The Chairperson and Members are therefore not entitled to separate payment each time they attend an ordinary or special meeting.
The Schedule also excludes any sumptuary allowance. The omission is express and reinforces the consolidated-remuneration model. An appointee cannot claim such allowance by drawing comparisons with another statutory or governmental office unless the Rules are lawfully amended.
Any service matter not expressly addressed by the Rules or the Fifth Schedule must be referred to the Central Government, whose decision is final under the Schedule. This residual mechanism prevents uncertainty where the prescribed framework does not deal with a particular situation. It also confirms that the Board itself does not possess unrestricted authority to create additional service entitlements for its Chairperson or Members.
The Central Government’s residual power concerns gaps in the service framework. It should be exercised consistently with the Act, the Rules and the protection against adversely altering service conditions after appointment. The finality clause gives administrative conclusiveness within the prescribed framework, but it does not place a decision beyond the operation of constitutional or judicial review where jurisdictional error, arbitrariness, bad faith or violation of the parent legislation is alleged.
The definition of “pay matrix” connects the Schedule’s Level 17 and Level 15 references to Annexure I of the Central Government Resolution notified on 25 July 2016. This ensures that references to those levels have an identifiable legal and administrative source. Their role remains limited to those entitlements for which the Schedule expressly adopts them, especially travel and leave travel concession. They do not displace the consolidated salary amounts fixed separately in the Schedule.
Taken together, the Fifth Schedule establishes a hybrid service model. The Chairperson and Members receive fixed consolidated remuneration and defined statutory benefits, while selected government-service rules are incorporated for travel, medical assistance, leave, leave travel concession and disciplinary matters. At the same time, the Schedule excludes official housing and cars, pension, gratuity, sitting fees and sumptuary allowance.
This structure reflects the nature of the offices. The Chairperson and Members exercise senior regulatory and adjudicatory authority for a fixed statutory period. Their terms must be sufficient to support independent and effective performance, but they are not intended to reproduce every incident of permanent government service.
The Schedule also contributes to transparency and uniformity. Candidates for appointment can identify the financial and service conditions of office in advance, and appointees within the same category are governed by the same terms. This reduces the possibility of individual negotiation, inconsistent treatment or discretionary benefits that could affect institutional confidence.
The conflict-of-interest and disciplinary provisions reinforce that remuneration is accompanied by continuing standards of integrity and accountability. The Members’ position involves access to confidential evidence, commercially sensitive information, breach records and matters affecting significant public and private interests. The service framework therefore regulates not only financial entitlements but also the conduct expected from persons exercising the Board’s powers.
Overall, the Fifth Schedule creates a complete and predictable service structure for the statutory leadership of the Data Protection Board. It combines substantial consolidated remuneration, contributory provident fund participation, travel and medical benefits, regulated leave and LTC with clear exclusions and continuing integrity obligations. It should be read with Section 20, Rule 18 and the other provisions governing appointment, disqualification, removal and proceedings of the Board.
Its broader institutional purpose is to ensure that the persons exercising the Board’s regulatory and adjudicatory authority enter office under terms fixed by law, remain subject to defined standards of conduct and receive benefits appropriate to senior fixed-term statutory office without being assimilated entirely into the ordinary civil-service structure.