Admissibility and Requirements for E-Signatures in India

Introduction

This article provides a comprehensive understanding of the admissibility and requirements for e-signatures in India, serving as a legal guide for businesses and individuals. Electronic signatures offer ease and convenience, enabling swift verification and authentication of documents. This overview outlines the detailed legal compliances that are mandated by Indian Laws for electronic signatures and e-authentication techniques. In a nutshell, electronic signatures or e-signatures are very much admissible before the courts of law and can be used by businesses to enter into contractual arrangements as long as they confirm to the requirement stipulated by the applicable Indian laws.

Legal Framework governing E-signatures in India

Information and Technology Act, 2000

The Information and Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) is the key legislative framework in India that provides legal recognition to electronic commerce and electronic data interchange. Compliance with the IT Act is essential for businesses employing electronic signatures to authenticate and verify documents. The Act outlines the mandated parameters for electronic authentication techniques, certification authorities, and the enforceability of electronic signatures.

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 provides detailed grounds for the certification of electronic signatures, their authenticity, and presumptions regarding the intent of the parties. According to the Act, any contract containing electronic signatures is presumed to be finalized once these electronic signatures are affixed by the involved parties. Furthermore, when secure electronic/digital signatures are involved in legal proceedings, the court must assume that these signatures were affixed with the intent to sign the document, unless proven otherwise. The Act also states that if an electronic signature is applied to a document, the court will presume the contents of the attached electronic signature certificate to be true and accurate unless demonstrated otherwise. Compliance with the Indian Evidence Act is crucial to ensure the admissibility of electronic signatures as documentary evidence.

Compliance with Recognized Forms of E-Signatures

It is necessary to comply with the recognized electronic signatures and authentication techniques as mentioned in the Second Schedule of the IT Act, 2000. These include:

1. Biometric and One-Time Password (OTP) based Aadhaar e-KYC (Know Your Customer), commonly known as Aadhaar e-Sign.
2. Other e-KYC services like offline Aadhaar e-KYC, organizational e-KYC, or Banking e-KYC.
3. E-authentication techniques and procedures facilitated by trusted third parties. A trusted third party will be a certifying authority (CA) licensed under the IT Act.

These methods are utilized for issuing electronic signature certificates upon successful verification of the applicant’s identity and address credentials.

Reliability and Security of E-Signatures

For an electronic signature to be considered reliable and secure, the following criteria must be met:

1. The electronic signature should be exclusively linked to the signatory or authenticator, identifying only that specific individual.
2. The electronic signature should be stored in an exclusive manner as prescribed by the Central Government.
3. At the time of signing, the signatory must control the data used to generate the electronic signature.
4. Any changes made to the electronic signature or the document it is affixed to must be detectable.
5. Any changes made to the information after the authentication provided by way of an electronic signature must be detectable.
6. Certificates must be issued by a Certifying Authority (CA) recognized by the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA).

Admissibility of E-Signatures

Electronic records and their contents are recognized as documentary evidence under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Details present in an electronic record are accepted as evidence in legal proceedings without additional verification of the original, provided it is accompanied by a certificate affirming:

1. The computer through which the electronic record was produced was in regular use by a person having lawful control over the system at the time of producing it.
2. The information contained in the electronic record was stored or received in the said computer during the ordinary course of activities.
3. The output computer was in a proper operating condition, or operational difficulties, if any, must not have affected the accuracy of the data entered.

The information contained in the electronic record reproduces information fed into the computer in the ordinary course of activities.

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