The Union Cabinet yesterday approved the proposal to introduce the Information Technology Bill in the winter session of Parliament to facilitate electronic trade and commerce.
The Bill aims at preventing computer crime, both in the public and private domains. Accordingly, some of the existing statutes are to be amended. These include the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, the Bankers' Book Evidence Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act.
The Bill has provisions to eliminate barriers to electronic commerce resulting from uncertainties over writing and signature requirements. This implies that if the Bill is passed, digital signatures would become legally valid and acceptable.
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But the digital signature by itself is not enough. It has to be certified by certifying authorities. Such authorities issue digital certificates to individuals or corporates, which help in creating electronic profiles.
A digital certificate helps in creating a digital identity of individuals, which not only authenticates the digital signature, but also helps in generating a credit profile with each transaction.
This is a crucial issue since foreign digital certificate authorities are governed by the laws prevalent in their countries. Therefore, it is important to establish a common meeting ground for e-transactions to take place between individuals or corporates from various countries.