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E- CONTRACTS: AN
OVERVIEW

13/01/2020
 SYNOPSIS

• Introduction and Definition to E-commerce

• Introduction to E- Contract
• Essentials of an E-contract
• Kinds
• Enforceability of E-contracts
• Issues faced by E- contracts
• Conclusion
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 INTRODUCTION

• Electronic commerce has existed in India from the 1990s, however this trend has gained
upsurge in recent years. Globalization, in hand with governmental policies of “digital India”
has a positive outcome over the Indian economy. A survey shows an increase in 53% of
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in countries online retail market from the period
of 2013 to 2017.*
• With establishment of various digital platforms like Flipkart, Myntra, Amazon, OLX, etc. the
consumers of the country have been more inclined towards buying and selling products
online.

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 E- COMMERCE

• E- Commerce refers to all forms of commercial transactions involving organizations

and individuals that are based upon the processing and transmission of digitized data,
including text, sound and visual images.
• E- Commerce is a way to conduct commerce in totality using the internet as a
medium.
• E- Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of
funds or data over an electronic network, primarily the internet.
• It can be- B2B, B2C, C2C or C2B.

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 E- CONTRACT

• Contract is defined as- “An agreement enforceable by law”.

• E- contract can be defined as – “Any binding agreement between parties
having lawful object and consideration with their interaction over electronic
means like email, MP3 audio file, multimedia-message, etc.”

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ESSENTIALS OF A VALID CONTRACT

OFFER ACCEPTANCE

LAWFUL
LAWFUL OBJECT
CONSIDERATION

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 CERTAINTY
AND
COMPETENCY
POSSIBILITY OF
OF PARTIES
LEGAL
PERFORMANCE

FREE CONSENT

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 E-
CONTRACT

SHRINK BROWSE CLICK

WRAP E- MAIL
WRAP WRAP

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 SHRINK WRAP

• “Shrink wrap” means thin plastic wrapping around a product or box. Shrink
wrap contract refers to license agreement which is wrapped with the
software. The users assent to the contract is inferred from his scrapping the
wrap for opening the product. The user in this type of contract has no
negotiation power he either can accept it by shredding the wrap or reject it
by returning the product.

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10
 CLICK WRAP CONTRACT

• This type of e-contract is executed between the parties when one of them agrees to the terms
and conditions specified by the websites by clicking “I Agree” to it or writing their consent in
the dialogue box provided. It has pre -determined terms and conditions where the party like in
traditional contract does not have bargaining power, they could either accept or reject it wholly.
In other words, express consent of the party is required for constituting any contract like after
downloading any game or software we are required to expressly accept the terms and
conditions, denial of it will also deny us the access to the game or software .

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 BROWSE WRAP CONTRACT

• Browse-wrap agreements cover the access to or use of materials available on a website or

downloadable product. Only if the person agrees to the terms and conditions on the web
page, then he can access the contents of the web page.
• In most cases, the website or the browse- wrap includes a statement that the user’s
continued use of the website or the downloaded software manifests assents to those
terms. Many times, the terms mentioned in the browse wraps are explicitly displayed on
the website but the existence of such browse wrap is hidden or not seen on the page.

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 E- MAIL

• This type of contracts is entered through electronic communications and

are similar to traditional form of contracts as parties have the opportunity
to negotiate the terms and conditions amongst each other in such regard. It
is necessary for the formation of such contract that the electronic
communication has been viewed, therefore falls within the category of non-
instantaneous communication. It is governed under Information Technology
Act of 2000.

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 ENFORCEABILITY OF E-CONTRACTS

• India is transforming into a visual jungle with internet becoming part and parcel of our life.
The growing trend of social media, online shopping, e-retailing has created a predicament
for the law makers in protecting the users from fraud, misrepresentation, identity theft and
other such challenges.
• The Information Technology Act of 2000 was implemented for the governance and
providing legal sanctity to transactions undertaken through electronic means and also
provide for authentication of digital signature, jurisdiction, penalties in case of breach, etc.
• Section 10-A of the said Act has recognized the validity of these e-contracts.

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16 ISSUES FACED BY E- CONTRACTS

Jurisdictional
Parties
Issues

Signature
Authentication Loss of
Information
 17 CONCLUSION

• The technological advancement has inspired the population of the country to adopt with
the growing surge of internet. These trends had made E-contract blood and sweat of e-
commerce industry in India. But such changes require strong guidance for proper
implementation and administration of these contracts in India. Information Technology Act
of 2000 has failed to lay down rules for the phishing, identity theft, privacy protection, data
protection in internet banking, etc.
• There is a need of stringent and separate legislation for governance of e-contract in India
covering the short comings of the present legislature and providing structural framework
towards the technical or legal aspect of these contracts.