A parliamentary panel has asked the government to reconsider the formulation of a separate law on electronic delivery of services as the same can be done by amending the  existing IT Act, 2000 and incorporating new e-governance rules.

The department of elctronics and information technology (Deity) drafted the bill on electronic delivery of services in February 2011 and subsequently sought public feedback. Later, in December 2011, the government introduced the bill in the lower house. However, many states including Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had already notified service-delivery rules in their e-governance policies.

“The committee was unable to comprehend the intention of the government while bringing a separate legislation for electronic delivery of services particularly when the model state electronic services delivery rules are being formulated under the IT Act,” the Parliamentary standing committee on information technology said in its report tabled in parliament last week.

The committee was of the view that with a few amendments to the IT Act, there would not be a necessity for separate legislation. To Deity, the committee recommended reconsideration through consultation with legal and IT experts before the bill was taken up by Parliament.