Section 214: Obligations of Information Utility
Section 214 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 specifies the principal statutory duties of every information utility while providing core services, including creation and storage of financial information, electronic submission, authentication, access, service quality, statistical publication and interoperability.
Text of Section 214
For the purposes of providing core services to any person, every information utility shall--
(a) create and store financial information in a universally accessible format;
(b) accept electronic submissions of financial information from persons who are under obligations to submit financial information under sub-section (1) of section 215, in such form and manner as may be specified by regulations;
(c) accept, in specified form and manner, electronic submissions of financial information from persons who intend to submit such information;
(d) meet such minimum service quality standards as may be specified by regulations;
(e) get the information received from various persons authenticated by all concerned parties before storing such information;
(f) provide access to the financial information stored by it to any person who intends to access such information in such manner as may be specified by regulations;
(g) publish such statistical information as may be specified by regulations;
(h) have inter-operatability with other information utilities.
Meaning of Information Utility and Core Services
Section 3(21) defines an "information utility" as a person registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India as an information utility under Section 210. Section 3(9) defines "core services" as services rendered by an information utility for accepting electronic submission of financial information, safe and accurate recording of financial information, authentication and verification of submitted financial information, and providing access to stored information to persons as may be specified.
Key Obligations Under Section 214
- Accessible format: Financial information must be created and stored in a universally accessible format.
- Electronic submissions: The information utility must accept prescribed electronic submissions, including information required to be submitted under Section 215(1).
- Service standards: It must meet minimum service quality standards specified by regulations.
- Authentication: Information received from persons must be authenticated by all concerned parties before storage.
- Access: Stored financial information must be made accessible in the manner specified by regulations.
- Statistics: Statistical information specified by regulations must be published.
- Interoperability: The information utility must have interoperability with other information utilities.
Relationship With Section 215
Section 214(b) expressly refers to persons who are under an obligation to submit financial information under Section 215(1). Section 215 deals with the procedure for submission of financial information to an information utility, while Section 214 imposes corresponding duties on the information utility for accepting, authenticating, storing and providing access to such information.
Current Regulatory Framework
The detailed operational requirements are contained in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Information Utilities) Regulations, 2017. The official IBBI legal framework lists the consolidated regulations as amended up to 2 June 2026. IBBI also notified the Information Utilities Amendment Regulations, 2026 and issued updated formats under the regulations in June 2026.
Technical requirements are further supported by IBBI's Guidelines for Technical Standards for the Performance of Core Services and Other Services under the Information Utilities Regulations. The official guidelines repository includes the amendment to those technical standards dated 29 January 2025.