E-Commerce- An Overview

Introduction
This PPT has been written by S. Aditya  who is an alumnus
of  K.L.E. Society’s Law College, Bangalore. This PPT
purports to describe the e-commerce aspects of cyber law.
The PPT dwells into the legislation governing e-commerce in
India, the author also makes conscious note of the
advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce. E-
commerce ethics has been discussed in this PPT as ethics
determines the longevity of the business endeavor in any
market.
 Synopsis

• Definition of E-Commerce
• Information Technology Act, 2000 and
Objectives
• Types of E-commerce
• Important Issues in Global E-Commerce
• Pros and Cons of E-Commerce
• Ethics in E-Commerce
• Conclusion
• References
 Definition of E-commerce

• E-Commerce refers to all the legal and regulatory aspects of the internet and the
world wide web. Anything concerned with or related to or emanating from any legal
aspects or issues concerning any activity of netizens and others, in Cyberspace
comes within the ambit of Cyber Law.

• ‘Netizens’ is the integrated word comprising Internet + Citizens. Netizens: entity or

person actively involved in the cyber world also called cyber citizens.

• The legal framework of cyberlaw: Legal aspects of all the interactions taking place
in the cyber world comprises the legal framework of Cyber Law. For Instance,
Cyberlaw includes in its ambit the e-contracts executed via the opening of the website,
various economic interactions, it also includes the Punitive provisions for the cyber
crimes etc. 

• Cyberspace is a virtual medium. It is the conventional means to describe anything

related to the Internet and the diverse Internet culture such as social networking, e-
commerce, e-governance etc. The all-pervasive nature makes the role of the cyber
law policy critical.

• Jurisdiction: Since the internet is open to the entire globe and hence jurisdiction rests
 The Information Technology Act, 2000
and Objectives:
• The Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted in the backdrop of the Global
recognition of the need for the exposition of the cyber regulatory framework.
UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission International Trade Law) in the year 1996
adopted the model law on e-commerce to bring uniformity amongst the countries of
the globe regarding Cyber regulation. The Information Technology Act elaborates on
Data privacy, wherein, with the growth of the Internet, the data of people are online
and is vulnerable to be misused. The big data analysis is something which stands
testimonial to this concern. Big Data analysis suggests that the searches made by
people can be used to persuade the choices of people analyzing their pattern of
search made.

• The new Information technology legislation has by defining cyber café created a
better institution for catching hold of the perpetration of cyber phishing, which used to
be earlier executed by such Cafe but now after the notification, the personal id has to
be submitted to the shopkeeper in order to trace the perpetrator and create
deterrence.

• The Act by authorizing an inspector to investigate a cyber offence has increased the
resource of the cyber investigation by manifolds. Earlier only a commissioner was
allowed to investigate into the cyber crimes but after the amendment now the
The Legislation fundamentally aimed:
• To grant legal recognition to E-commerce which is the transactions carried out by
electronic data interchange and other means of electronic means of communication.
• To recognize to keep the books of accounts by the bankers in electronic form: the
books of accounts maintained by the bankers have always been a source of
evidence and also subjected to scrutiny whereby making the banks answerable.
• To amend the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, the Banker’s Book Evidence
Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act, the Information Technology Act has
recognised the e-evidence in a court of law making access to justice easier and
making the Indian legal system dynamics with time.
• To recognize documents filed with the government: the e-Governance has been a
great boon to the society in general as the resources are at easier access via the
internet and also effectively reduces the need of middle man and hence cutting the
need of corruption.
• To recognize Electronic data storage: the government recognizes the Digi locker
wherein the citizens can access their important documents such as voter id, PAN
card, Driving License etc. Another news in hype was the demand made by the
government towards the internet service providers to save the data in India.
• To recognize Electronic fund transfer between banks and financial institution: the
advent of e-banking has infused a never seen before pace in the banking sector. It
may not be wrong to suggest that the advent of net banking has almost brought the
bank at the palm of the account holder.
• To recognize the authenticity of digital signature for authentication of any information
or matter requiring authentication under law.  
  Types of E-commerce
 E-commerce/e-business may be classified at large in the following six basic types:
• Business to Business (B2B): Refers to all electronic transactions of goods
and sales that are conducted between two companies, generally between the
producers and wholesalers. The famous website acting as a catalyst between
such wholesalers and producers maybe India-mart.
• Business to Consumer (B2C): Various predominant e-commerce persisting in
India wherein the customer gets a big market to purchase goods and services.
Here, the E-commerce website serves as a platform for the sale of the goods
directly to the end-consumer of the products. For instance Flipkart, Amazon,
Myntra etc.
• Consumer to Consumer (C2C): Generally this model uses the online platform
of money and various social media for its existence. The widespread known
phenomenon of “OLX pe Bech de!” can be the best example to understand E-
Commerce at the consumer to consumer-level basis. Example: eBay is one
global example of this kind of e-commerce.
• Consumer to Business (C2B): When the Customer provides goods or
services in exchange for money. For Ex. A customer review or the
advertisement of a company by an influencer amongst his followers etc.  
• Business to Administration (B2A): This e-commerce category refers to the
services and products offered by the companies to the Public Administration.
For Instance: the small company providing IT support to the local administrative
body
• Consumer to Administration (C2A): This heading includes all the transaction
whereby there is a payment made electronically towards the public
administration such as taxes, health appointment.
Important Issues in Global E-commerce
• Legal aspects of e-commerce: As discussed earlier, the e-commerce model
legislation has been accepted by the UNCITRAL, but whenever an international model
code is formulated it is accompanied with its own safeguards to the individual state
sovereignty wherein the Municipal Legislation keeping the model laws as standards
may deviate in accordance to its own municipal laws.
• E-security: the security of the end-users has always been a matter of grave concern
globally since the internet has netted two ends of the globe now it is easier for a
person(hacker) to sit in his remote physical location and cause the data or financial
breach of the Victims.
• Jurisdiction: the Internet is open to the globe and hence the jurisdiction of the cases
has been given to all the courts.
• Contracts and Liability: the E-contracts made in the cyber-world have been given
legal recognition and the liabilities are also enforceable but the same becomes a
mammoth task when parties belong to two different nations and have not made a
clause regarding the application of specific law.
• Taxation: Various facets of taxation such as tax collection, collection of sales tax,
determination of taxpayer’s residence, determination of the origin of income,
jurisdiction are inherently a difficult task in the plane of taxation, but on integration with
the fact of expansion of the market to the present scale of globe the calculation of the
Taxes becomes additionally difficult, wherein various nations apply various tax
evaluation methods in accordance to their own legislations.
• Copyrights: Global e-commerce is like an ever-expanding universe of sellers and
buyers and products, it becomes difficult to keep a tap at the copyright violation in
such a huge number to deal with.
 Pros and Cons of E-commerce
Advantages of e-commerce Disadvantages of e-Commerce

•It's a Business platform unaffected by •Fewer people using E-commerce

the barrier of time and distance
•Lowers the Cost of sale •Unable to personally or physically
examine the product
•Cheapest means of doing business •Special and costly hardware and software
are required
•Less delivery time and less labour cost •The website must be maintained and
etc updated regularly
•Provides solution by decimating cost in •Skilled people are required to maintain the
price fixation website
•Reduction in the buyer’s sorting out •Not suitable for perishable commodities
time
•Better buyer decision
•Less time spent in resolving invoice and
order discrepancies
•Increased opportunities for buying
alternative products
 Ethics in e-commerce

Ethics is always a crucial component of any field.

The ethics in e-commerce is very important as the
unethical or oppressive behavior of a business entity
may ruin the balance of the market. The Company’s
core values and its guiding principles are very
crucial for a new business to operate and forms a
part of the Company’s ethics. The ethical and legal
duty of the Company to maintain the secrecy of the
data of the customer and invest upon the encryption
of the same to save it from the hackers. The Ethical
duty of the Companies also includes not to make a
misleading statement regarding its products, i.e.
they must not promise stars to the consumers just to
gain the loyalty of the consumers.
 Conclusion

The E-commerce though different in its digital presence from

a brick and mortar business entity faces its own set of
advantages and disadvantages. The legislation of the
Information Technology Act, 2000  was made so as to make
a cyber regulatory framework in accordance to the model
laws passed in UNCITRAL. There are various kinds of e-
commerce based upon the entities between whom
transaction takes place. These e-commercial transactions
pose various problems of the nature of security, jurisdiction,
taxation etc. on global scale. The advantages and
disadvantages of e-commerce are the facets of the system
which has to be understood while dealing with the e-
commerce system. Ethics, as discussed towards the end of
the article, plays a crucial role in establishing the entity’s
image in the market. 
• References
• [1] The Information Technology Act, 2000
• [2] The Model Law on Electronic Commerce (MLEC)
• [3] E-Commerce Advantages and Disadvantages
• [4] Engaging in Ethical E-Commerce