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IT Act Section 7
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The Information Technology Act, 2000

Section 7 Retention of electronic records

Chapter
III · Electronic Governance
(1) Where any lawDefined in section 2(y): law includes any Act of Parliament or of a State Legislature, Ordinances promulgated by the President or a Governor, as the case may be, Regulations made by the President under article 240, Bills enacted as President's Act under sub clause (a) of clause (1) of article 357 of the Constitution and includes rules, regu... provides that documents, records or informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... shall be retained for any specific period, then, that requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such documents, records or informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... are retained in the electronic formDefined in section 2(r): electronic form with reference to information, means any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, micro film, computer generated micro fiche or similar device, if—
(a) the informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... contained therein remains accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference;
(b) the electronic recordDefined in section 2(t): electronic record means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 3[(ta) electronic signature means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of the electronic technique specified in the Second... is retained in the format in which it was originally generated, sent or received or in a format which can be demonstrated to represent accurately the informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... originally generated, sent or received;
(c) the details which will facilitate the identification of the origin, destination, date and time of despatch or receipt of such electronic recordDefined in section 2(t): electronic record means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 3[(ta) electronic signature means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of the electronic technique specified in the Second... are available in the electronic recordDefined in section 2(t): electronic record means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 3[(ta) electronic signature means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of the electronic technique specified in the Second...:
Provided that this clause does not apply to any informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... which is automatically generated solely for the purpose of enabling an electronic recordDefined in section 2(t): electronic record means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 3[(ta) electronic signature means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of the electronic technique specified in the Second... to be despatched or received.
(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any lawDefined in section 2(y): law includes any Act of Parliament or of a State Legislature, Ordinances promulgated by the President or a Governor, as the case may be, Regulations made by the President under article 240, Bills enacted as President's Act under sub clause (a) of clause (1) of article 357 of the Constitution and includes rules, regu... that expressly provides for the retention of documents, records or informationDefined in section 2(v): information includes 6[data, message, text,] images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and data bases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 7[(w) intermediary, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits... in the form of electronic records.