eSign is a secure way of applying an electronic signature to an electronic document.
It can be applied to any document online and this will influence the way business is done, services are delivered and public services becoming more efficient and reliable.
Aadhaar Based eSign In India
Any citizen of India with an Aadhaar card and a registered mobile number can sign a document remotely.
Any Application Service Provider (ASP) can provide 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 eSign Influence The Digital Age?
Financial And Tax Records
eSign can be used by an individual to authenticate and verify financial records online.
Financial records are generally issued by banks, portfolios, asset management firms, risk management, insurance and investment firms, etc.
An individual can also use eSign to apply for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and to file Income Tax returns online.
By affixing an eSign on an electronic document or application form, an individual confirms that all the information submitted by him/her is true and accurate.
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 eSign as the authenticating factor.
Certain transaction and/or purchases may require identity authentication and verification as well, and with eSign, an individual can confirm his or her identity remotely. eSign 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, eSign 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
Contracts and agreements are already being executed online with the help of eSignatures.
With the help of technology, contracts and agreements can be drafted immediately, executed between several parties by applying their digital signatures on the contract and paid for all online.
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 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.
Our Country’s objective has been set on achieving a 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.
eSign is here for the long-haul as a replacement to paper-based signatures.
Immediate Service Delivery
Services can be applied for by a customer and organizations can facilitate Immediate delivery. This is evident by making a comparison between eSign and traditional signatures
Previously, if an individual manually signed a document (through KYC), then it would take a few days to confirm the identity of the individual and another few days before a service was made available to him/her.
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.
Customers and vendors can be acquired and onboarded immediately instead of having to wait for days to manually execute documents.
As mentioned earlier, agreements and contracts can be used to onboard customers and vendors.
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 eSign 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
eSignature could also be implemented to provide a systematic and organized real estate sector in India.
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 eSign on the transfer of immovable property in India is immense.
Want eSign For Your Business?
The Government, Startups, and Private and Public Companies will be enabled to base their service delivery around eSign.
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.com facilitates eSign for all eSign related services (B2B and B2C).