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Subhajit Basu and Richard Jones (2003)
E-Commerce and the Law: A Review of India's Information Technology Act, 2000
Contemporary South Asia, 12(1):7--24.
Electronic commerce—conducting business through network technology—will
significantly impact the global economy and play a vital part in future economic development.
Europe and the United States are currently seen as the main beneficiaries of such growth, but
countries such as India and China with their huge pools of technologically skilled manpower
have exceptional opportunities. A number of developing countries have pursued policies to
formulate a consistent legal and regulatory framework to support electronic transactions
across state, national and international borders. The development of the appropriate legal
framework has required substantial re-thinking of traditional legal approaches. Many legal
rules assume the existence of paper records, documents, signatures, physical cash, cheques,
face to face meetings, and so on. As more transactions are carried out by electronic means,
it becomes important that evidence of these activities be available to demonstrate the ensuing
legal rights and obligations. India’s Information Technology Act 2000 provides a legal
framework so that transactions are not denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely
because they are in electronic form. In this paper, we will outline the economic impact of
e-commerce on the developing countries and review the main provisions of the Information
and Technology Act 2000 in the context of contractual, jurisdictional, security, and regulatory
issues. The Act will be contrasted with similar provisions in Europe, the United States
and South East Asia.