Are electronic signatures legally binding?

The federal ESIGN Act (2000) says a signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it is electronic. Almost every state has adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), and New York has its own similar law. Both rely on the parties agreeing to do business electronically, and ESIGN adds disclosure and consent rules when consumers receive legally required information electronically.

ESIGN excludes some documents, including wills and testamentary trusts, many family-law matters such as adoption and divorce, court orders and notices, and certain notices such as cancelling utilities or foreclosure on a primary home.

The Information Technology Act 2000 recognises electronic records and contracts formed electronically. It gives electronic signatures special legal status when they use a technique listed in the Act, currently digital signature certificates and Aadhaar-based eSign. The Act doesn't apply to negotiable instruments other than cheques, powers of attorney, trusts, wills, and contracts for the sale or conveyance of immovable property.

Many businesses use simple e-signatures for ordinary commercial agreements, relying on the audit trail as evidence. Where a law, regulator or counterparty expects a DSC or Aadhaar eSign, use one.

Flaxxa Sign records each signer's consent to sign electronically, every step with its time, IP address and browser, and how they signed (drawn, typed or uploaded). Everyone receives the finished PDF, and the sender can download a signing certificate with the recipients, times, IP addresses, the event timeline and SHA-256 hashes of the original document and signature images.

These are simple electronic signatures. Flaxxa Sign doesn't offer advanced or qualified signatures under eIDAS, or digital signature certificates or Aadhaar eSign under India's IT Act, and it doesn't verify a signer's identity beyond the email link.