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Govt may modify IT Act to remove legal
hurdles in e-commerce
Govt wants to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out using
electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication
Press Trust of India | New Delhi September 14, 2014 Last Updated at 14:55 IST
The government is likely to modify the Information
Technology Act, 2000 to remove legal obstacles in
e-commerce transactions as it seeks to further boost
the rapidly expanding over $2-billion online
shopping market in the country.
Under the proposed Communications Convergence
Bill, the government plans to modify the IT Act,
2000 to provide legal recognition for transactions
carried out using electronic data interchange and
other means of electronic communication, sources said.
Besides, it also aims to draft a set of globally acceptable guidelines to increase the legal
predictability for electronic commerce (e-commerce) and adopt the United Nations
General Assembly's (UNGA) recommended Model Law on Electronic Commerce
(MLFC), they added.
According to UN Commission on International Trade Law, MLEC seeks to enable and
facilitate transactions done using electronic means by providing governments with
internationally acceptable rules aimed at removing legal obstacles and increasing legal
predictability for e-commerce.
The law is intended to "overcome obstacles arising from statutory provisions that may
not be varied contractually by providing equal treatment to paper-based and electronic
information.
"Such equal treatment is essential for enabling the use of paperless communication, thus
fostering efficiency in international trade," the UN body said.
The government has already constituted a committee to develop a conceptual framework
for Communications Convergence Bill, which was originally drafted in 2000 under the
BJP-led NDA Government.
The Bill was at that time shelved due to differences between the Telecom Ministry and
the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on bringing the broadcasting sector under
the ambit of a super-regulator.
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The Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely to finalise the draft Bill before the Winter
Session of Parliament.
The government's move to modify the IT Act, 2000 to boost online shopping also gels
with its ambitious project worth around Rs 35,000 crore that aims to provide high-speed
broadband connectivity to 2.50 lakh gram panchayats in India.
According to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the National Optical Fibre
Network will lead to an explosion of e-commerce in the country.
A joint study by consultancy firm PwC and industry body Assocham predicts that the
size of the e-retail industry is poised to touch $10-20 billion by 2017-2020 and e-
commerce firms are expected to spend up to $1.9 billion by 2017-2020 on infrastructure,
logistics and warehousing.
Another report by consulting firm Technopak pegs the $2.3 billion e-tailing market to
reach $32 billion by 2020.