How India's IT Act 2000 and the Aadhaar eSign service make electronic signatures legally binding — and where DocFila fits.
Section 5 of the Information Technology Act 2000 gives electronic signatures the same legal recognition as handwritten signatures, with the IT (Amendment) Act 2008 explicitly recognising both digital signatures (PKI) and electronic signatures (such as Aadhaar eSign).
The Schedule to the IT Act lists carve-outs where wet ink is still required: negotiable instruments (other than cheques), powers of attorney, trusts, wills, and contracts for sale of immovable property.
Aadhaar eSign uses biometric or OTP-based authentication against UIDAI to issue a one-time signing certificate from a CCA-licensed Certifying Authority. The result is a cryptographically strong signature equivalent to a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) — without the user needing to buy a USB token.
DocFila supports Aadhaar eSign via certified ASPs in our Business tier. Most B2B and B2C use cases (loan agreements, employment contracts, vendor onboarding, KYC) work with eSign without issue.
Class 3 DSCs are required for MCA filings (companies act compliance), GST invoice signing, EPFO submissions, and tender bidding on government portals (GeM, e-procurement). DocFila's enterprise plan integrates with eMudhra and Capricorn for DSC-backed signing.
Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act 1872 requires an electronic record to be accompanied by a certificate identifying the device, the producer, and the chain of custody. Every DocFila document includes a Section 65B-ready audit certificate auto-generated at sign-time.