E-Transactions Law published in Gazette

An important component of e-commerce and associated e-government implementations is the presence of suitable electronic laws that regulate the environment to bring about trust and security within the digital society.

Speaking about the law, Dr. Salim AL-Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA said, 'One of the main purposes of this law is to facilitate electronic transactions which are vital to e-government and e-commerce applications in Oman. In order to support such transactions, any contract, agreement or communication carried by electronic means as electronic messages is considered legally valid through this law. It regulates the transfer of electronic data and messages through various electronic channels such as the Internet and control changes made to data.'

'Through the enactment of this law, we aim to consolidate public trust in the safe use of e-transaction, messages and records while assuring adequate protection for privacy of data of individuals involved in such e-transactions,' he added.

In order to create the regulatory environment, the law has strict penalties for anyone misusing electronic systems, the applications and the data resident in them by punishing criminal acts using electronic systems and data like hacking into computer systems, un-authorised capture or tampering with data etc.

Promotion of this law sets up unified rules, regulations, and standards of authenticating electronic messages and records. By building trust and security it will reinforce the development of the e-transaction at the national, Gulf, and Arabic domain by using the e-signature and e-transactions.

The use of electronic signatures in the electronic commerce set forth a common legal framework for electronic authentication over the Internet or other electronic media. It will also play a pivotal role in forming contracts, carrying out business, assisting people to work together co-operatively and underpinning many forms of electronic collaboration.