An integral part of the Information Technology Bill 2000 will be to make Electronic Commerce an essential part of life for the people in India, rather than just a 21^st century curio. And with this bill, India joins an exclusive club of (only) 11 countries with such cyber legislation. It is not just about keeping up with the Joneses; e-commerce is turning a large number of industries inside out- especially in those sectors where wares can be digitalised e.g.– music, banking– are already ahead of legislation.

A key provision of the Bill is the legal authority it gives to electronic signatures and digital certification for companies. Surveys have repeatedly shown Indian customers pass on their credit card numbers to a restaurant waiter but hesitate at doing so to an intangible dotcom. They also show that sending credit information into cyberspace is the primary inhibition against making purchases on the Internet.

A similar story exists for businesses. An inability to verify signatures and credit histories online forces companies to delay dispatching online wares until they can check with banks or other third parties. Much of the speed and surety that makes e-commerce so revolutionary has been non-existent in India and this has stunted e-commerce- even in the financial and entertainment sectors. Not surprisingly, then, online business was less than Rs. 1.5 billion in India in 1998.

Globally too, there is an expansion of business to business e-commerce. And if Indian companies wish to be competitive and tap the global market, they need to be able to do it online. To cite one example, General Motors and Ford will put $ 400 billion worth of contracts on the net in the next few years. Without digital certification, no Indian firm would be able to even offer a bid.

E-commerce is fragmenting some industries, merging others. Some industries are being made obsolete whilst others are evolving into something completely different. As customers and businessmen – even as law enforcers, India need to be immersed as quickly and as deeply as possible in this new world if it wants to thrive in the global economy.