1.1.          Meaning and Definitions

Electronic contracts may be said as “legally enforceable promises or set of promises that are concluded using electronic medium.” It is defined as “a kind of contract formed by negotiation of two or more individuals through the use of electronic means, such as e-mail, the interaction of an individual with an electronic agent, such as a computer program, or the interaction of at least two electronic agents that are programmed to recognize the existence of a contract.”[1]

The International Chamber of Commerce define ‘e-contract’ as “the automated process of entering into contracts via the parties computers, whether networked or through electronic messaging.” To put it precisely, contracts entered into via computers, using the means of Internet, email, or via any other computer related products such as databases and software, are e-contracts. In theory, an e-contract is almost identical to traditional paper-based contracts, only that the agreements are created, signed and communicated in an electronic form. E-contracts are also stated as ‘digital contract’, ‘online contract’ or ‘cyber-contract’.

It can be said that the definitions of e-contract cannot be claimed as exhaustive and most of the definitions that are found are generic definitions. Etymologically, we may find many definitions for e-contract, but there can be no undisputable or exhaustive definition for it. So in its broadest sense, it can be summarized as contracts that are formed using computers, either through e-mail or the Internet, or that incorporate computer related programs like software and databases.[2]

E-contract has many advantages over traditional contracts as it can significantly reduce the time of forming contracts. It helps contracting parties to create a faster contracting process by facilitating automation and digitization of contracts, which also reduced the process costs. It also assists businesses achieve competitive benefits by providing an upgraded contract management system. Modern businesses in this media age are mostly contract-intensive and rely heavily on effective management of contractual relations to uphold positive trade relations. Effective management of contract involves exploring and examining the past, present, and future contractual relations of a company, which involves their formation, performance and termination, renewals and risk analysis. E-contract assists and automates the whole process and additionally improves the content by digitally examining the consistency of the contractual terms. It also provides efficient contract monitoring prospects by enabling automatic analysis of the terms & conditions & thereby eliminating the requirement of having to physically connect contracting systems with the production management systems. Also, e-contract enables ‘responsiveness’ in the contracting process as it is powered and supported by their tactical information technology architecture. As e-contract is represented in a digital form, it substantially eliminates the requirement of human-process synchronization which results in speedy contract formation and thereby preventing companies to miss out on good opportunities due to the time and energy they spend on extensive synchronization requirements.

[1] US Legal Definitions, (Nov. 15, 2020), http://definitions.uslegal.com/e/e-contract.

[2] L. Kidd, Donnie. Jr. & H. Daughtery. Jr, 2000, Adapting Contract Law to Accommodate Electronic Contracts: Overview and Suggestions, 12 RUTGERS COMPUTER AND TECH L.J, 225.