New Delhi, July 23 -- The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) draft Guidance on Regulatory Expectations for Data Governance, which aims to improve data discipline across entities regulated by it, is timely.

Its structure follows the now-standard three-lines-of-defence logic seen in mature data governance regimes: board-level accountability via a designated committee, senior executive oversight by an officer no lower than chief general manager (CGM) rank, and a granular chain of data owners, stewards and custodians running through every relevant data domain.

Core features: An overhaul of data governance practices is much-needed in a sector that often treats this as an afterthought despite growing operational and cybersecurity risks. Currentl...