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IT Act 2000AMENDED 2008

Section 6A

Delivery of Services by Service Provider

THE STATUTE

Original Text

Where the Government or its agency is required or permitted to do any act or thing in electronic form under this Act or any other law for the time being in force, such act or thing may be done by the Government or its agency through an intermediary or a service provider authorised by the Government to do such act or thing on behalf of the Government or its agency, if the Government, by an order, authorises such intermediary or service provider to be the point of receipt of such information or data from the public and such other terms and conditions as may be specified.

Simplified

Section 6A extends the e-governance framework of Section 6 by allowing Government to outsource the delivery of electronic services to authorised intermediaries and service providers. This is the statutory basis for India's most significant last-mile e-governance infrastructure: Common Service Centres (CSCs) — over 5 lakh outlets across India acting as authorised service providers for government services in rural and semi-urban areas; e-seva centres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; and state-run citizen service portals operated through private agencies. The mechanics: Government designates an intermediary or service provider as the authorised point of receipt for public data and document submissions, specifies terms and conditions, and the service provider then acts on behalf of the Government. The legal consequence is that submission to the authorised service provider constitutes submission to the Government — creating a legally valid chain. The provision also allows service providers to collect fees — the basis for the CSC fee structure where operators charge citizens a service fee on top of government charges. Section 6A must be read with the IT (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules which various state governments have framed, and the CSC e-Governance Services India Limited framework established by MeitY.

Common Queries

Yes. Section 6 empowers the government to accept applications, issue licenses, and receive payments in electronic form, giving legal backing to 'e-Governance' initiatives like Digital India.

Legal Evolution

Section 6A was inserted by the IT (Amendment) Act 2008. By 2008, India had recognised that direct government-to-citizen e-services could not reach every village — a network of authorised service providers was needed for last-mile delivery. The National e-Governance Plan had already established CSCs as a concept, and Section 6A provided the statutory foundation for their legal authority to accept government document submissions.

Key Amendments

Inserted by IT (Amendment) Act 2008 — no equivalent in the original IT Act 2000.

CSC e-Governance Services India Limited (CSC SPV) established in 2009 under this framework.

DigiLocker, Umang app, and other service aggregators draw legal authority from Section 6A read with Section 6.