OVERVIEW

Asim specializes in Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) and has over 25 years of diverse experience in TMT as a civil servant in the Department of Telecommunication, as Vice President (Legal) in the corporate office of Bharti Airtel Ltd and as a Partner with leading law firms of India. He has domain expertise and extensive experience in TMT related assignments relating to Policy, Regulatory, Contractual, Transactional, Compliance, Approvals, and Litigation.

His practice focusses on traditional broadcasting, telecommunication and IT sectors and emerging areas like IOT, OTT Platforms, AI, Robotics, Digital Maps, E-Governance, E-Commerce, Cloud based Services, Smart Cities, Fintech, Data Protection and Privacy, etc.

He has advised Telecom Service Providers, Broadcasters, DTH, IPTV operators and MSO on many regulatory issues including terms and conditions of licenses, internet telephony, encryption, spectrum sharing and trading, in-flight connectivity, net neutrality, license fee, private leased network, pricing of TV channels, interconnection regulations, number portability, digitalization of processes, etc.

He has drafted and negotiated contracts relating to revenue share arrangements between operators in telecom and broadcasting sectors, satellite transponder capacity, sharing or acquiring infrastructure, access to cable landing station, outsourcing arrangements between HITS and MSO, etc. He has negotiated agreements with major international telecom operators like AT&T, Vodafone, Sprint, British Telecom, Orange Business, SingTel, RIM, etc., including some of the biggest outsourcing contracts relating to IT and telecom network in India with IBM, Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia.

Asim has taught telecom laws at India Law Institute for two years and insurance laws at FORE School of Management for three years. He has attended and made presentations to Study Group-3 of International Telecommunications Union at Geneva.

RECOGNITION

• Recognised as Top 10 Influential TMT Lawyers defining Tech-Law landscape in India 2023.
• Recognised as ‘Distinguished Practitioner’ in the 2023/24 edition of asialaw.
• Ranked in 'The A-List' as India's Top Lawyers for the year 2021-22 by India Business Law Journal (IBLJ).
• Recognized as “Market Leading Lawyer” by Asia-Pacific’s Leading Lawyers in IT, Telecom & Media.
• Ranked in asialaw 2022-23 Rankings as a 'Distinguished Practitioner' for Technology & Telecommunications

OVERVIEW

Avisha has 10 years of experience and specializes in Technology laws including Fintech, Data Privacy, and host of other emerging technologies such as E-Commerce, Cloud based Services, OTT Platforms, AI, Crypto Currencies, Blockchain, IoT, Health Tech, and Digital Maps.

She has advised some of the largest global and national technology companies, start-ups and banks/NBFCs on regulatory issues, licenses and approvals, policies and contracts. Some of these include Google India, Airtel Payments, ANI Technologies (Ola), Yum Brands.

She also has extensive experience in advising on corporate law issues including securities laws and foreign exchange.

Apart from corporates, Avisha often works with regulators and industry associations on policy issues, such as IAMAI and RBI on Payments Vision (Nov 2021); FICCI and Ministry of Corporate Affairs on M&A Rules (May 2019); SEBI on policy changes to Takeover Regulations (Aug 2016), meaning and scope of “Control” and reclassification of promoter (Sep 2015).

Avisha is frequently quoted in media articles and writes for financial dailies on issues around legal developments - Economic Times (Mar 2021), Financial Express (Apr 2021). She also regularly delivers guest lectures at business schools - MDI Gurgaon (Sep 2020, Dec 2019, Aug 2019 – MBA and Executive MBA Programs), Jindal Global Business School (Apr 2019), Shiv Nadar University (Feb 2019), Start-up Leadership Program (Sep 2017).

Avisha has been recognized by Asian Legal Business as 'Top Female Lawyer in India 2022’ and as the Economic Times Young Leader (2019).

SELECT REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS/MATTERS

Data Protection

• Lamborghini S.p.A.: Advised on software systems to be installed in vehicles from privacy and information technology laws of India.
• Audi Ag: Advised on Indian privacy and data protection laws.
• Tencent: Advised on cross border data transfers and data localization Fintech.
• Google India: Advised on FinTech laws particularly collection, storage and sharing of KYC details related issues.
• Spreedly Inc: Advised on RBI tokenisation, recurring payments and data storage framework.
• RapiPay Fintech: Advised RapiPay in compliance and structuring related aspects under the FinTech laws and setting up and operationalising neo banks.

OTT, Emerging Technologies & Corporate Laws:

• Microsoft Corporation: Advised on mapping policy of India including on collecting/ selling/ licensing map data in India and on ‘remote sensing data’ under the Remote Sensing Data Policy.
• Google India: Advised on Gmail and Google Meet product suits from Indian laws standpoint.
• Hitachi Limited: Takeover of ABB Ltd.’s power grid division valued for USD 6.4 billion.

OVERVIEW

Geeta Dhania is a Partner based in New Delhi and heads the Capital Markets practice at the firm. Ms. Dhania has been recognized by IFLR 1000 as one of India’s leading capital market lawyers and a ‘Recognised Practitioner’ by Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific.

She has led transactions that include domestic and international listings of equity, debt and convertible securities, and span private placements and public offerings by issuers across a wide range of industries. Ms. Dhania has advised on some of the largest transactions in the Indian capital markets, including the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) ETF; Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Coal India, Reliance Nippon, Reliance General Insurance, Ujjivan Financial Services, RBL Bank Limited, Mas Financial Services, Security and Intelligence Services, HUDCO, MOIL, Muthoot Finance; Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) of CESC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Edelweiss Financial Services, Yes Bank Limited; and follow on public offerings by Engineers India, REC, NTPC Limited.

Other transactions of significance which Ms. Dhania has advised on include the stake sale by Government of India in ONGC through an offer for sale on the stock exchanges, the issue of perpetual debt securities and listing on the SGX-ST by Ballarpur. In addition, Ms. Dhania works closely with leading investment banks in India on various corporate and securities law matters.

SELECT REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS/MATTERS

Capital Markets / General Corporate / Transactional Experience

• Advised on some of the largest transactions in the Indian capital markets, including the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) ETF; initial public offering of Coal India, Reliance Nippon, Reliance General Insurance, Ujjivan Financial Services, Mas Financial Services, Security and Intelligence Services, HUDCO, MOIL, Muthoot Finance; qualified institutions placement of CESC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Edelweiss Financial Services, Yes Bank Limited; and follow on public offerings by Engineers India, REC, NTPC Limited.
  Initial Listings in India
• Acting as counsels to the book running lead managers (Axis capital, BoB Capital Markets, Dam Capital and SBI Capital Markets) on the INR 5,000 million proposed IPO by Lava international Limited.
• Acted as the sole counsel to the Company and the book running lead manager on INR1,654.16 million the IPO by Venus Pipe & Tubes Limited.

Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP)

• Acted as the counsel to the book running lead managers in relation to QIP by Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
• Acted as counsel to the company in relation to INR 31,728 million QIP by DLF Limited.

Sale on the Stock Exchanges

• Acted as counsel to the Government of India in the offer for sale of equity shares of Dredging Corporation of India Limited.
• Acted as counsel to the Government of India in the offer for sale of equity shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

OVERVIEW

Vikash is a highly accomplished professional specializing in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT). With over 20 years of diverse experience, he has demonstrated exceptional expertise in various TMTrelated domains, including Licensing, Policy, Regulations, Contracts, Transactions, Compliances, and Litigations.

Having held the position of Director, Regulatory Consulting at Ernst & Young LLP till February 2023, Vikash has consistently delivered outstanding results. His unwavering focus on the telecommunications, space, and digital infrastructure domain is complemented by a deep understanding of emerging technologies. He possesses a keen interest in cutting-edge advancements such as communication OTTs, OTT platforms, IoT, AI, M2M, robotics, drones, content, smart cities, data centers, cloudbased services, data protection and privacy.

Vikash's skill set extends to handling intricate and high-value contracts, which has been a cornerstone of his successful career. He is adept at handling diverse and complex contracts including GSM (RAN/CORE) contracts, managed service contracts, transmission and bandwidth contracts, passive infrastructure contracts, IT (Information Technology) solutions contracts such as Business Intelligence and Intelligent Network and more.

Furthermore, Vikash has displayed his proficiency as the Local Privacy Officer (LPO) for Telenor's India unit, reflecting his deep knowledge of global privacy frameworks and his commitment to upholding data protection and privacy standards.

With his extensive knowledge and an impeccable track record, Vikash is a highly sought-after professional in the TMT industry. He consistently brings strategic insights, legal acumen, and a results-oriented approach to every project he undertakes, making him an invaluable asset in delivering successful outcomes.