Provisions on e-governance under the IT Act

Electronic governance is dealt with in Chapter III of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Its main provisions:

Section 4 (electronic records recognised in law). If a law requires information or any other matter to be in writing, or in typed or printed form, that requirement is treated as met when the information is made available electronically and can be accessed for later reference.

Section 5: legal recognition of electronic signatures. Where any law provides that information shall be authenticated by affixing a signature, or that a document shall be signed, the requirement is deemed satisfied if the information is authenticated by an electronic signature affixed in the manner prescribed by the Central Government; signed means affixing a handwritten signature or any mark on a document (Explanation).

Section 6 (electronic records and signatures in government work). Where a law requires a form, application or other document to be filed with any office, authority, body or agency that the appropriate Government owns or controls, a licence, permit, sanction or approval to be issued or granted, or money to be received or paid in a set way, the requirement is treated as met if this is done electronically in the form the appropriate Government prescribes; that Government may also lay down by rules the manner and format in which such records are filed, created or issued, and the manner or method of paying any fee or charge for doing so (s. 6(2)). Under section 6A it may also, by order, authorise service providers (any individual, private agency, private company, partnership firm, sole proprietor firm or other body permitted under the policy for that service sector) to set up, maintain and upgrade the computerised facilities and perform other services it specifies by notification in the Official Gazette; it may let them collect, retain and appropriate the prescribed service charges from users, even where the law under which a service is provided has no express provision for such charges, and it notifies the scale of charges in the Official Gazette, which may differ for different services.

Sections 7 and 7A (retention and audit). A law requiring documents or records to be kept for a period is satisfied by keeping them electronically, provided the information stays accessible so that it can be used for later reference, the record stays in the format in which it was made, sent or received (or one shown to represent it accurately) and carries the details identifying its origin, destination, date and time of dispatch or receipt; and any law providing for audit of records applies equally to records kept electronically. The details condition (clause (c)) does not apply to information generated automatically solely to enable a record to be dispatched or received, and section 7 does not apply at all where a law itself expressly provides for keeping records in electronic form (s. 7(1) proviso and 7(2))..

Section 8 (Electronic Gazette). Where a law requires a rule, regulation, order, bye-law, notification or any other matter to be published in the Official Gazette, publication in the Electronic Gazette satisfies it, and the date of publication is that of the Gazette which first carried it.

Section 9 (no right to insist). Sections 6 to 8 do not give anyone a right to insist that a Ministry or Department of the Central or State Government, or an authority or body established by law or controlled or funded by either Government, accept, issue, create, retain and preserve a document electronically or carry out a money transaction electronically.

Sections 10 and 10A. The Central Government may make rules on electronic signatures: their type; the manner and format of affixing them; the procedure for identifying the person who affixes them; control processes ensuring the integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic records or payments; and any other matter needed to give them legal effect (s. 10); and a contract is not unenforceable merely because its proposal, acceptance or revocation was communicated in electronic form.