Comments
on the Draft EDS Bill-2011
(This
is the third article of a series of articles on the Bill)
First article can be found
here
Second article can found
here
Use of Electronic delivery of
services:
Section 3 of this act is a
reproduction of Section 6 of ITA 2008 and enables use of electronic
means for receipt of forms, application or any other document by any
Government office, to deliver any license, permit etc or to issue
receipt of payment.
Section 4 of the Act is a
reproduction of Section 6A of ITA 2008.
Right to electronic delivery of
services
Section 6 of the Act is however a
direct repealing of Section 9 of ITA 2008.
Appointment of Electronic
Delivery of Services Commissioners:
One of the main contributions of
EDSB-2011 is to set up the offices of the Central Electronic
Delivery of Services Commissioner (CEDSC) and the State Electronic
Delivery of Services Commissioner.
The CEDSC will be an apex
e-Governance official for the country and responsible for the
implementation of the provisions of the Act on an all India level. The
SEDSC will have similar responsibilities at the State level.
Though this was also possible
through a rule notification under ITA 2008, it is still a provision
which may have certain advantages. This may help in bringing harmony of
e-Governance systems in various states and reduce inefficiency and
duplication of services delivery mechanisms in different states.
The CEDSC will also have powers to
hear and decide appeals against the orders of the State Electronic
Delivery Of Services Commissioner (SEDSC).
One advantage of this office is
that it can take responsibility for implementing security in the
e-Governance systems.
Offences and Penalties:
Notwithstanding the provisions
available in ITA 2008, this Bill also defines certain contraventions and
offences and prescribes penalties and punishments.
These provisions were completely
avoidable since ITA 2008 had all the necessary provisions and there was
little jusitification to duplicate the same in this ACt.
For example, Section 12 is a
section that makes "Impersonation" punishable with 3 years imprisonment
and Rs 1 lakh fine. This purpose is already served by Section 66D of ITA
2008.
Section 13 of the Act is a verbatim
reproduction of Sec 43 of ITA 2008 (read in the context of Sec 66).
Section 14 of the Act is a
reproduction of Section 45 of ITA 2008 and Section 15 of the Act is a
reproduction of Section 85 of ITA 2008.
Section 16 of the Act is a
reproduction of Section 75 of ITA 2008.
Section 17 and 18 are reproductions
of Section 78 and Section 77 of ITA 2008.
Additionally, section 23 of the Act
on "Encryption" is again a reproduction of Section 84A of ITA 2008.
It can be seen from the above that
all sections on penalty and punishment are a reproduction of the similar
provisions of ITA 2008 and the logic of adding them in this act is not
clear.
Cognizance requires Sanction:
One point of difference between the
ITA 2008 and this Act is that the CESDC or SEDSC will have the right to
sanction or refuse sanction for any offence being taken up for trial by
a Court.
This is a provision perhaps to
protect the Government officials from being held liable under the Act.
If any official or a member of the
agency of the ESD system commits an offence the citizen may find it
impossible to launch judicial action without the permission of the
Commissioner.
While the need to protect the
Government official is perhaps acceptable, this provision may also
protect the employees of the service agencies and this is not a healthy
system.
We cannot rule out commission of
frauds by the employees of the Service delivery agents and the officials
protecting them for various reasons including corruption.
This provision therefore needs
appropriate revision to state that " this provision applies only to
actions against the official of the appropraite Government only".
In summary it can be stated that
except for creation of a framework for supervision, and providing a
right to citizens to demand electronic delivery of service the proposed
Act does not have many benefits.
It is more an Act to prevent
accountability of Electronic Service Delivery agencies and shield them
from the provisions of ITA 2008.
The proposed Act therefore does not
merit passing as a separate law. Instead some amendments may be passed
to ITA 2008 itself to delete Section 9 of ITA 2008 and achieve all other
objectives through a notification.
Naavi
7th March 2011
Comments are Welcome at naavi@vsnl.com
