The Electronic Transaction Act (ETA), which was approved by the interim parliament in December 2006, will finally come into effect with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) all set to appoint the country’s first Controller of the Certification Authority (CCA). MoEST has already advertised and received applications for the coveted post. Following the appointment, e-transactions will receive a formal recognition and the country will have its first cyber law. The controller, among other important tasks, will be entrusted with dispatching electronic records, issuing licences to certifying authorities of digital signature (used to maintain confidentiality of electronic transactions) and supervising and monitoring the activities of certifying authorities. The Act also envisions cyber courts to check cyber crimes and punish cyber criminals.

Thus ETA is expected to make electronic transactions simpler and swifter and help curb cyber crimes. Absence of cyber law has given cyber criminals virtual impunity to hack into sensitive government software and websites. There was also no mechanism to establish authenticity and maintain confidentiality of e-transactions. It remains to be seen how effective the ETA will be. Yet just the presence of a supervisory body will discourage a lot of unscrupulous people. With the number of e-customers in Nepal increasing by day, ETA could not have come at a better time. The country now hopes that unlike other pieces of legislation, this one will have some teeth.