Growth of E-Commerce Laws: A Historical Perspective

With the emergence of the Internet, many technological developments are taking place. Internet has become, the way of life. The commercial transactions are conducted electronically on internet. The Internet has changed the fundamentals of business. It had evolved the industrial economy into an electronic economy which was later called E-commerce. E-commerce is all about doing business via electronic means. It comprises of all the transactions that are done using the internet. Electronic commerce can be referred to the selling of goods or exchanges among customers, business partners and vendors. It can also be called as sharing of trade data and conducting trade exchanges by implies of media transmission systems. Today E-commerce has become an integral part of our daily life. The Indian E-commerce portals provide facility for purchase of goods and services in different categories. Electronic commerce is the new evolving trend in business strategy. However, it did not just happen in 1998. Various car companies and supermarkets have been doing electronic commerce for many years, their electronic technology is called Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). In e-commerce sector there are mainly five types of transactions. In the view of this unparalleled eruption of E-commerce, the need for appropriate laws to govern transactions relating to e-commerce is there so that any kind of fraud is prohibited and also to defend the interest of customers. There are diverse provisions in the laws governing electronic commerce in India. E. g. Indian Contract Act 1872, Information Technology Act 2000, Consumer Protection Act 1986, Competition Act 2002.