EMERGING LEGAL ISSUES OF E-COMMERCE IN INDIA

The Internet has unfolded a new market for businesses to explore and exploit. To provide security and legal recognition to the transactions executed electronically, the Indian Parliament enacted the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Original Act) modeled on UNCITRAL's Model Law, although it departs in many respects from the spirit of the Model Law. Immediately after the enactment of the IT Act, it was found that certain significant provisions were missing in this enactment; its provisions lacked harmony and above all many legal issues had not been properly spelled out. This Act was amended in the year 2008 with many objectives. An attempt is made in this paper to analyze the legal provisions relating to e-commerce in the IT Act, together with the provisions of the Indian Contract Act (Contract Act), which continues to be the fundamental law on the subject.