Government may ease e-commerce hurdles with modified IT Act

The government plans to make necessary modifications in the Information Technology

Act, 2000 to remove legal obstacles in e-commerce transactions to boost the rapidly developing online shopping market in the country. Sources say that under the proposed Communications Convergence Bill, the government is contemplating providing legal recognition for transactions carried out using electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication.

The government 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). 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 government has also 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. Now the Department of Telecom (DoT) is expected 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 may prove to be a major move on the lines of its ambitious project worth around Rs 35,000 crores that aims to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to 2.50 lakh Gram Panchayats in India.