The ITA-2000 has exempted five categories of documents from being legally valid
in electronic form with digital signatures. They are Negotiable Instrument,
Will, Trust Deed, Power of Attorney and Immovable Property related Sale and
Conveyance deed. Additionally the use of electronic documents by Government
agencies have been placed under an "Optional" category.
The US ESIGN Act has listed nine exempted categories namely,
court records; wills and testamentary trusts; domestic and family law records;
contracts governed by certain provisions of state commercial law; cancellation
notices for utility services; cancellation notices for health or life insurance
benefits; real property foreclosure, eviction, and default notices; product
recall notices; and hazardous materials and dangerous goods shipping papers.
On August 30, the US authorities released a public request for comments on the
review of two of the nine exemptions provided under the ESIGN Act, namely
the court records and hazardous materials.
It may be noted that the ITA-2000 does not exempt categories such as
cancellation of critical services as envisaged in the ESIGN Act. To that extent
ITA-2000 appears to have a wider scope than US ESIGN Act.
Naavi
September 21, 2002
