Signature to eSignature

Signature believed to have first appeared in the sixth century in Europe and it started catching on widely post the 16th or 17th century. From then on, signatures became pivotal for any agreement or contract to be considered valid. Wax seals were also added to signatures to give more authenticity and in some countries only wax seals were used instead of wet signature (because it was done with ink). Today, in the digital world, is a physical signature relevant? Can we cut down on the use of paper and make fool-proof signatures for online transactions?

Physical signatures increase the need of paper. It’s susceptible to forgery, back dating and not the most fool proof way to authorise a document. More importantly, we manage to use more than a trillion tonnes of paper every year and a good part of it is for mundane, routine signature approvals. According to the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association, the demand for paper in India is going to rise by 53 per cent by the year 2020. An article I read recently stated that if the papers used all over the world are stacked up, it would reach half way to the moon.

India with its vision of going gre-en cannot afford to continue with this level of paper usage and consequent deforestation. The only solution to going green is to embrace a digital future with completely paperless transactions.

In India, the IT Act 2000 provides for the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) to license and regulate the working of Certifying Authorities. The Certifying Authorities (CA) are licensed to issue Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs) for electronic authentication and signing by users. A DSC is a legally valid equivalent of a physical signature duly issued by a Certifying Authority after verifying the identity of the individual. A Digital signature is highly secure and does not allow any tampering once the document has been digitally signed and provides for legal non-repudiation under Information Technology Act.

Another kind of electronic signature that is valid in India is the Aadhaar eSign which relies on Aadhaar e-KYC data. Aadhaar eSign helps facilitate an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document within a few seconds.

eSign allows an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign an electronic document without having to obtain a physical digital signature certificate (in USB Crypto Token). Application Service Providers (ASP) can integrate this service within their application to offer Aadhaar holders a way to sign electronic forms and documents.

ASP, who could be banks, insurance agencies, organizations etc., sends the request for electronic signature with the inputs Aadhaar Number, authentication parameter (OTP or biometric) and Document Hash and obtains the response from the licensed eSign service provider.

How get e-Sign?
Anyone who wish to use Aadhaar-enabled eSign can get them from eSign Service Providers, who are authorised to  issue eSignatures by Controller of Certifying Autho-rities, Union ministry of electronics and information technology. The empanelled service providers include     eMudhra Ltd,  C-DAC, (n)Code Solutions and NSDL e-Governance Infra-structure Ltd.

The person, who desires to have use eSign, can go to any of the empanelled service providers and key in his or her Aadhaar number, generate OTP by clicking the option provided on the portal, then key in the OTP that was sent to the registered mobile nu-mber for authe-ntication purposes,  enter captcha and choose an appropriate subscription.

Thereafter, it will take him or her to payment window and after the payment, the user can eSign all Aadhaar-enabled applications, PDF documents, etc which need to be sent online.

Where can be it used
eSign  can  be  effectively  used  in  scenarios where  signed documents  are  required  to  be  submitted  to  service  providers —Government, public  or private sector. The agencies which stand to benefit from offering eSign online electronic signature are those that accept large number of signed documents from users.

It can be used for self-attestation for digital locker, signing for PAN application, e-filing of tax returns, opening saving accounts with banks and post office, for driving licence renewal, application for birth, caste, marriage certificates, for mobile connections and for admission into educational institutions.

Privacy
eSign ensures the privacy of the signer by requiring that only the thumbprint (hash) of the document be submitted for signature function instead of the whole document.

Exemptions
As per the first schedule of the IT (amendment) Act, 2008, digital signature or eSign is not valid for negotiable instruments (cheques, promisory notes, etc), creation of power of attorney, writing a will and for executing the sale of immovable property.

The writer is the chairman of eMudhra Ltd