Electronic Signature
eSign is a secure way of applying an electronic signature to an electronic document.
Electronic Signature can be applied to any document online. Public services becoming more efficient and reliable, business processes and services delivered, all can be influence by eSign.
Aadhaar Based eSign In India
Any Application Service Provider (ASP) can provide an electronic signature (esign) services to customers by integrating eSign into their service application.
The entity should be of one of the following types:
- A Legal Entity registered in India
- A financial institution, bank or telecom company
- A non-profit company or Special Purpose Organization
- An authority incorporated under the State or Central Act
- A Central or State Government Ministry or department or any undertaking formed by the same authorities.
How Does Electronic Signature Influence The Digital Age?
Financial And Tax Records
An individual can use eSign in authenticating and verifying financial records online.
Banks, portfolios, asset management firms, risk management, insurance and investment firms, etc. issue financial records.
One can also use electronic signatures to apply for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and to file Income Tax returns online.
An individual confirms that all the information submitted by him/her is true and accurate, by affixing an eSign on an electronic document or application form.
Online Transactions
eSign can be used for approving certain online applications and transactions.
Let’s say an individual requires a service (bank account, sim, etc), the person can apply for the same online using electronic signature as the authenticating factor.
Certain transactions and/or purchases may require identity authentication and verification as well, and with eSign, an individual can confirm his or her identity remotely. electronic signature also makes online transactions more secure.
Remote Access
Small to medium scale companies and startups will be able to cater to a global audience by incorporating and offering esignature services.
An individual will have remote access to apply his or her signature on a form or document from any location on earth.
There are a few service providers that provide eSignature services and Signdesk is right up there, providing electronic signature services at affordable prices.
Evolution Of Digital Security
As digital security evolves, so will digital crimes. Encryption technology will be broken just as any new tech or software has a life-cycle.
The life-cycle of an electronic signature includes the creation, storage, access, retrieval, modification, retention and destruction of documents online.
The longer a system exists in any form, the more time the system or encryption has to be compromised.
In this case, an electronic signature is a form of digital security and it will evolve into something else if the system gets compromised or outdated.
But for now, eSignature has set the standard for whatever technology that will replace it in the future.
Contracts And Agreements
eSignatures also help in executing contracts and agreements online.
Drafting contracts and agreements, obtaining multiple parties signature and making payments can all be made online in no time. All of this is possible with the help of technology.
Imagine you can execute and bring a contract into effect within a few minutes just by sharing it with the parties concerned instead of each party having to be physically present.
This speeds up to several processes for businesses such as service delivery, logistics and warehousing, purchase orders, license agreements, etc.
Eco-Friendly
eSign will replace hard paper, saving the environment and all while thrusting India into a completely digital age.
Digital India is into effect through the cashless, paperless and completely digital economy.
The eco-friendly factor of eSignature has been extensively covered in How to go paperless with Aadhaar-based Electronic Signatures.
Using paper (from trees) was never a sustainable plan, but a temporary one, similar to how fossil fuel is temporary to us until we discover how to better harness other forms of energy.
electronic signature is here for the long-haul as a replacement to paper-based signatures.
Immediate Service Delivery
Organizations facilitate Immediate delivery as soon as a customer applies for services. This is evident by making a comparison between electronic signature (esign) and traditional signatures.
If a customer chose to sign a document physically (through KYC), it would be days before he received the service. Since this involves manual identification of the individual and making the service available.
Customer And Vendor Acquisition
Private companies will view this as a big bonus because their revenue model will be based on customer or vendor acquisition.
Rather than manually executing documents for onboarding customers and vendors, it can be done immediately through a digital signature.
Successful companies have good customer acquisition and retention rates which are directly linked to a company’s revenue-generating capacity.
Public Services
Public services that could use eSignature are passport application and renewal, PAN application and payment, vehicle registration, driving license renewal, income certificate, birth registration, death certificate, marriage registration, telecom connection, examination enrollment, employee identification, etc.
Imagine how efficient the Public system would be if all the listed services are available online?
At the click of a finger, an individual would get so much done instead of having to stand in long queues at multiple offices and locations, manually filling out forms, and so on.
Members of Parliament and the legislative council can use eSign to submit Parliament questions online.
Real Estate
The real estate sector in India can also benefit from eSignature through a systematic and organized process.
With a chain of problems plugging the real estate industry, ranging from fraud, money laundering, black money, property scams, illegal transfer of property, and so on, real estate cases, make up about a third of all our court cases.
That is a lot of time, resources and energy spent on something that needs fixing.
Thus using eSign, an individual should be able to safely and securely transfer his or her property after a registration.
The scope for implementing an electronic signature on the transfer of immovable property in India is immense.
Want Electronic Signature or eSign For Your Business?
The Government, Startups, and Private and Public Companies will be enabled to base their service delivery around eSign.
Hence, keeping up with the competition for effective and efficient service delivery, eSign will become a core component of the service offering for several organizations across different sectors.
SignDesk facilitates electronic signature for all related services (B2B and B2C).