Legal

Data Deletion Instructions

Last updated: 8 August 2026

This page explains how you, as a Data Principal under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”), can request deletion of your personal data held by Puneet M & Co, including data collected via the WhatsApp Business Platform, our website, email, or in the course of a professional engagement.

Professional/ICAI note: This page is a statutory/procedural notice and does not constitute solicitation or advertisement of professional services by the Firm, which remains bound by ICAI regulations.

How to Request Deletion

  1. 01Send an email to puneetmiddha11@gmail.com with the subject line: “Data Deletion Request.”
  2. 02Include the following information in your email so we can verify and locate your records:
    • Full name
    • Registered mobile/WhatsApp number and/or email address used with us
    • PAN (if you were a tax/GST client) — for identity verification only
    • Nature of your relationship with the Firm (e.g., “GST return client,” “WhatsApp enquiry only,” “website visitor”)
    • Specific data you want deleted (e.g., “all WhatsApp message history,” “all personal data except statutory tax records”)
  3. 03We will acknowledge your request within 3 working days and verify your identity before proceeding, to prevent unauthorised deletion requests.
  4. 04We will act on your request within 30 days of verified receipt, except for data we are legally required to retain (see below).
  5. 05You will receive a confirmation email listing what was deleted and what was retained (with the legal basis for retention).

What We Will Delete

On a verified request, we will delete or irreversibly anonymise:

  • WhatsApp conversation history and shared media not required for an active or statutorily-protected engagement.
  • Marketing/communication preference data.
  • Website contact-form submissions and any personal data not tied to a statutory record.
  • Any personal data you provided that is not linked to a filed tax return, audit file, or statutory record.

What Cannot Be Deleted (Statutory Retention)

As a Chartered Accountancy firm, we are legally required to retain certain records even after a client relationship ends or a deletion request is received.

Our operative retention period is 8 years from the end of the engagement, applied uniformly to all client records. It is set to the longest applicable statutory minimum so that a single policy satisfies every obligation below. The individual minimums are:

  1. 01Income tax records (returns, computations, supporting documents, correspondence with tax authorities) — retained for the period prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961, generally up to 6 years from the end of the relevant assessment year, and longer where assessment, reassessment, appeal, or prosecution proceedings are pending or reasonably anticipated.
  2. 02GST records (returns, invoices, reconciliations) — retained per GST law, generally 6 years from the due date of the annual return for the relevant financial year, longer if litigation is pending.
  3. 03Books of account and audit working papers — retained for at least 8 years under the Companies Act, 2013, where the engagement involved a company client or statutory audit support.
  4. 04Audit documentation — retained as required under ICAI Standards on Auditing (SA 230) and ICAI documentation-retention norms (currently a minimum of 7 years from the report date, or longer per ICAI/Companies Act requirements, whichever is longer).
  5. 05Anti-money-laundering / KYC records, where applicable to the engagement, retained per applicable regulatory timelines.
  6. 06Records relevant to an ongoing dispute, notice, assessment, or legal proceeding, until final resolution and expiry of the relevant limitation period.

For records falling into the above categories, we will retain only what is legally necessary, restrict access to it, and delete it once the statutory retention period lapses and no proceeding is pending.

Deleting Data via WhatsApp Directly

You may also stop WhatsApp communication at any time by replying STOP to any message thread or blocking our WhatsApp Business number. This stops future messages but does not automatically delete past message content — please use the email process above for a full data-deletion request, and separately manage your own device/WhatsApp app history and backups, which are outside our control.

Grievance Officer / Escalation

If you are dissatisfied with how your deletion request was handled, contact:

Name: CA Puneet Middha
Designation: Proprietor / Grievance Officer
Email: puneetmiddha11@gmail.com
Address: F-39, 1st Floor, Rangoli Plaza, Maharana Pratap Road, Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur 302034

If unresolved, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India under the DPDP Act, 2023.