Objects of the Information Technology Act, 2000

Objects of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as its long title and preamble set them out. Read together, they come to three aims:

1. Making electronic dealings legally valid. Business done by electronic data interchange, e-mail and other electronic means (electronic commerce) replaces paper records and paper communication; the Act gives such dealings the legal standing that paper documents already had.
2. Bringing government online. It allows documents to be filed electronically with government agencies, so that government can serve citizens efficiently through reliable electronic records.
3. Aligning Indian law with the world. The UN General Assembly, by its resolution of 30 January 1997, adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce and recommended that all States give it favourable consideration, so that the law on paperless dealings would be uniform; the Act was passed to give effect to that resolution in India; to fit the new rules in, the Act amends the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Indian Penal Code, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

In giving effect to these objects the Act lets electronic records and signatures meet legal requirements of writing and signature, on conditions (sections 4 and 5, Chapter III "Electronic Governance"): a requirement of writing is met by an electronic record that stays accessible for later reference, and a requirement of a signature by an electronic signature affixed in the manner the Central Government prescribes. A document filed online and authenticated in that manner therefore meets a legal requirement that it be written and signed.

Conclusion. The Act's objects are to give electronic commerce and electronic records legal validity, to make electronic dealings with government possible, and to bring Indian law into line with the UNCITRAL Model Law.