LAHORE, Sept 2: President Pervez Musharraf may soon promulgate an ordinance to provide legal cover to e-signatures and e-documents.

The final draft of “Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002” has already been approved by the federal cabinet which is supposed to facilitate efficient functioning of e-commerce in the country.

The drafting of the ordinance was entrusted last year to the Information Technology Law Forum headed by the adviser to Federal Finance Minister, Dr Tariq Hasan.

The ETO will provide legal cover to electronic communication aimed at facilitating trade and investment, expose local industry to international market and generate computer engineering jobs by creating a legal structure to support online sales and trading rules.

An ITLF member said the ETO was needed to set e-business rolling. “Though the ordinance meets only about 15 to 20 per cent needs of electronic commerce, its importance cannot be denied,” he said. Since the concept of e-commerce had never been treated with required precision and seriousness, the task was difficult and vital.

The ETO 2002, comprising eight chapters and a schedule, will come into force immediately after its promulgation and cover the whole of Pakistan. The chapters deal with preliminaries, recognition and presumption, electronic documents, certification service providers, certification council, amendments to relevant laws, jurisdiction and offences.

According to another member of ITLF’s sub-committee on e-banking, the ETO would ensure that the future e-laws are flexible enough to remain applicable in case of technological advancement. Regarding utility of the ETO, he claimed it extended legal recognition to documents in electronic form.

The relevant section states that no document or record shall be denied legal recognition, admissibility, effect, validity, proof or enforceability on the ground that it is in electronic form. Section 2 of the first chapter covers various definitions of e-signature.

Setting the standard for using advanced electronic signatures, it states that in addition to being unique to the person, an e-signature should be attached to the electronic document to which it relates in a manner that any subsequent change in the document is detectable. Cyber notaries have a third party role in the form of certification service provider so electronic signatures or contracts can be checked for authenticity in case of any dispute. The most interesting part for the apprehensive customers in the cyberspace is the chapter on offences. It describes offences and punishments meant to keep hackers out of the business. Section 36 of chapter 8 states: “Any person who gains or attempts to gain access to any information system with or without intent to acquire the information, when he is not authorized to gain access, as aforesaid, shall be guilty of an offence under this ordinance punishable with either description of a term not exceeding seven years, or fine which may extend to Rs1 million, or with both.”

Sections 38 and 39 of the same chapter say: “All offences under this ordinance shall be non-bailable, compoundable and cognizable. No court inferior to the court of sessions shall try any offence under this ordinance.”

According to experts, the task ahead now is to draft a law on e-banking. The ETO does not fully cover the rights and duties of customers and banks, or address problems like opening of accounts by electronic mails when out of the country and the concept of e-cash.

The ETO did not give customers the right to sue banks for wrongful honouring or dishonouring cheques and not maintaining secrecy of accounts. These lacunae make subsequent legislation imperative.