A BRIEF ABOUT E-CONTRACTS

Contracts are an important pillar of law. Most of the agreements entered into by parties, become contracts only after they are considered as enforceable by law. Such enforceability is necessary in order to make sure that the parties to the agreement perform their end of the bargain and do not breach the contract. 

In India, such contracts are governed by The Indian Contract Act, 1872, wherein different provisions lay down the scope, essentials and conditions of enforcement of contracts. Moreover, it also lays down the remedies provided to the parties in case of breach or non-fulfilment of the contractual promises. 

Over the years, the level of technology has advanced and there has been a constant increase in terms of globalisation and modernisation. As a result of this, it has become extremely easy for people to connect with each other. Accordingly, people from different parts of the world have now started forming agreements with each other involving the sale and purchase of goods and services and also enforcing these, through the use of such technology. Thus, contracts entered into through the way of computer sources or any computer or internet softwares, are said to be known as ‘E-contracts’. Although these contracts have the same essentials as that of a normal contract, even then these are not governed by the Indian Contract Act. Such contracts receive their authority as valid forms of contract under section 10 of the Information Technology Act, 2008. 

This Act generally recognises three parties to an electronic contract, namely the originator, the intermediary and the addressee. The originator has been defined under section 2(1)(za), which basically means a person who sends, generates, stores or transmits any electronic message; or causes any of these actions. An intermediary, as defined under section 2(1)(w) is any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores, or transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message. The addressee is defined in section 2(1)(b) as a person intended by the originator to receive the electronic record but does not include an intermediary. These three parties are different from that of the promisor and the promisee in the standard contracts, since this classification of parties has been done to understand their roles in the communication process. 

E-contracts are generally categorised into three types, namely ‘Shrink wrap e-contracts’, ‘Click wrap e-contracts’ and lastly, ‘Browse wrap e-contracts’. 

Shrink wrap agreements involve the buyer accepting the terms of the seller by way of opening of a particular product. Click wrap agreements are entered into on the installation of any software or link etc., in case where the buyer and seller into an online transaction for buying and selling of any product or service. Browse wrap agreements can be entered into by an user only when he/she accesses the conditions of the agreement through the use of a hyperlink.