Information Technology Act Section 13 — Time and place of despatch and receipt of electronic record

CHAPTER IV ATTRIBUTION, ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND DESPATCH OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Cyber Law

Summary

Sub-section (1) Unless the sender and receiver agree otherwise, an electronic record is considered sent at the moment it enters a computer system that is outside the sender's control.

Sub-section (2) Unless the sender and receiver agree otherwise, the time of receipt is decided as follows. Under clause (a), if the receiver has named a specific computer system for receiving electronic records, then receipt happens when the record enters that named system. However, if the record is sent to a different system of the receiver that was not named, receipt happens only when the receiver actually retrieves the record from that system. Under clause (b), if the receiver has not named any specific computer system, receipt happens when the record enters any computer system belonging to the receiver.

Sub-section (3) Unless the sender and receiver agree otherwise, an electronic record is treated as sent from the place where the sender has their place of business, and treated as received at the place where the receiver has their place of business.

Sub-section (4) The rules for time of receipt in sub-section (2) apply even if the physical location of the computer system involved is different from the place where the record is treated as received under sub-section (3).

Sub-section (5) For this section, under clause (a), if the sender or receiver has more than one place of business, the principal place of business is used. Under clause (b), if the sender or receiver has no place of business, their usual place of residence is treated as the place of business. Under clause (c), for a company or other corporate body, the usual place of residence means the place where it is registered.

Official Text

(1) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, the despatch of an electronic record occurs when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator.

(2) Save as otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee, the time of receipt of an electronic record shall be determined as follows, namely:—

(a) if the addressee has designated a computer resource for the purpose of receiving electronic records,—

(i) receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record enters the designated computer resource; or

(ii) if the electronic record is sent to a computer resource of the addressee that is not the designated computer resource, receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record is retrieved by the addressee;

(b) if the addressee has not designated a computer resource along with specified timings, if any, receipt occurs when the electronic record enters the computer resource of the addressee.

(3) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, an electronic record is deemed to be despatched at the place where the originator has his place of business, and is deemed to be received at the place where the addressee has his place of business.

(4) The provisions of sub-section (2) shall apply notwithstanding that the place where the computer resource is located may be different from the place where the electronic record is deemed to have been received under sub-section (3).

(5) For the purposes of this section,–

(a) if the originator or the addressee has more than one place of business, the principal place of business, shall be the place of business;

(b) if the originator or the addressee does not have a place of business, his usual place of residence shall be deemed to be the place of business;

(c) ―usual place of residence‖, in relation to a body corporate, means the place where it is registered.