The Act prescribes hefty financial penalties to drive compliance. There are six categories of violations, each with a maximum fine capped by the law. For most general obligations (such as consent, notice, and data principal rights), the penalty can be up to ₹50 crore per incident. Serious lapses attract higher penalties: e.g., failure to safeguard personal data against a breach can incur a fine of up to ₹250 crore; failure to notify authorities and users of a breach, or mishandling of children’s data, can incur a fine of up to ₹200 crore. Lesser caps (₹150 crore, ₹100 crore, etc.) apply to other specific violations as enumerated in the schedule. The Data Protection Board imposes these fines after an inquiry, and each violation (or each data principal affected, in some cases) may be counted separately – meaning the total exposure could be multiplied.

On the other hand, the Act also penalizes individuals for misusing its provisions: a Data Principal filing false/frivolous complaints, or impersonating someone, can be fined up to ₹10,000. The law thus seeks to punish bad-faith conduct on both sides. Penalties determined by the DPB are final but can be appealed in court. There is no provision for criminal liability (no jail terms in this Act, unlike some other laws). The prospect of multi-crore penalties underscores that organizations must take compliance seriously – prevention, via strong policies and training, is far better than a cure.