As good as IT gets: e-commerce Bill cheers all

The IT industry has welcomed the clearance of the draft Information Technology Bill by the Union Cabinet on Thursday.

Oracle country manager Shekhar Dasgupta said, "The Bill was pending for long and is definitely a step in the right direction. What is significant is that a rough draft of the policy was put on the net for IT industries to make suggestions. I am sure all the worthwhile suggestions must have been incorporated in the new Bill."

E-commerce is in its infancy in India with an estimated user base of one million and according to a 1999 report of the International Data Corporation, e-commerce accounted for only $30 million in 1999. Commenting on the trends, Mr Dasgupta said, "In India most of the e-commerce revenue comes from business-to-business and government-business interface. The government-government interface does not contribute significantly as its use is different." As the number of IT kiosks offering Internet connectivity increases and its spread widens more people will be involved in e-commerce, he said.

However, in India the use of credit cards as mode of financial transaction is limited and is one of the factors why the scope of the e-commerce has not been totally exploited. Partly agreeing with the fact, Mr Dasgupta said the number of credit card users is less in the country but that does not hamper the e-business. Business can now be done without even handshaking the customer. Financial aspects can be taken care of later through cheques or drafts, he said. "In New Delhi even vegetables are home-delivered after an order is placed through the Internet. The money is paid at the time of delivery. So credit cards do not really play that bigger a role as perceived."

Welcoming the clearance of the IT Bill, director (Southeast Asia) of Santa Cruz Operation R.N. Raja said, "It is a positive change but the government should see that its role is limited to that of a ‘facilitator’ and let the people decide and run things."

Stressing that the government should only focus on providing avenues and infrastructure for development and wide reach of e-commerce rather than trying to implement it, Mr Raja said the need of the hour is to open up the local IT market first. "The export of solutions and products to the US and other European countries is bound to rise in future but what is more essential is easy access to products and services within the country," he added.

The revolution brought about by opening the television industry is felt in the variety and quality of channels people can access. Similarly, the IT industry needs to be opened up so that the local availability of the services and products is available to consumers or the end users, said Mr Raja.

Compiled from local news media