Electronic Signature Glossary for India
Eight essential technical terms for Indian businesses signing electronically — each with a plain-English definition, the Indian legal context (IT Act 2000 / Aadhaar eSign / DSC), and translations into the six most-spoken Indian languages. Plus a reference card of 24 common acronyms and their full forms.
Updated 2026-05-21 — focused on the cross-border (India ↔ EU) signing use case
Essential terms (8)
Each term page covers the English definition, the Indian legal context, and dedicated vernacular variants for Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam.
eSign
An eSign (electronic signature) is a digital substitute for a handwritten signature that allows a person to consent to a document electronically. eSigns range from a typed name (simple) to a cryptographically-bound qualified signature backed by a trust service provider.
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Biometrics
Biometrics refers to identification techniques based on a person's unique physical or behavioural characteristics — fingerprint, facial features, iris, voice, or the dynamics of a handwritten signature. In electronic signature systems, biometric capture is used either as a standalone signature method or as a strong-authentication factor combined with other credentials.
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Non-repudiation
Non-repudiation is the property of an electronic signature that prevents a signer from later denying they signed a document. Achieved through a combination of identity proofing, cryptographic binding to the document, and a tamper-evident audit trail, it is the technical foundation of the legal enforceability of e-signatures in court.
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Compliance
Compliance is an organisation's adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies that govern its activities. For electronic signatures specifically, compliance covers the technical requirements of the applicable framework (IT Act 2000 in India, eIDAS in the EU, ESIGN/UETA in the US) plus data-protection rules (DPDP Act 2023, GDPR).
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CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management)
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is the end-to-end management of contracts from drafting through negotiation, approval, execution, renewal, and archival. Modern CLM platforms integrate authoring templates, approval workflows, electronic signature, and a searchable contract repository.
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Electronic Certificate (e-certificate)
An electronic certificate is a digital document issued by a Certification Authority (CA) that binds an identity (person or organisation) to a cryptographic key pair. It is the technical foundation of digital signatures, TLS website authentication, and qualified electronic signatures under eIDAS.
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Trusted List (EU Trust List)
The EU Trust List is the official register maintained by each EU Member State of qualified trust service providers (QTSPs) that have been audited and approved to issue qualified electronic signatures, seals, and time-stamps under the eIDAS Regulation. Inclusion on the list confers automatic legal recognition across all 27 Member States.
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Evidentiary Value
Evidentiary value is the strength with which an electronic document or signature can be admitted and relied upon as evidence in a court of law. It depends on identity proofing, cryptographic integrity, the audit trail, and the legal regime that governs the signature (IT Act 2000, eIDAS, ESIGN/UETA, etc.).
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Common acronyms & full forms (24)
Quick reference for the abbreviations you will encounter when reading e-signature contracts, eIDAS specifications, or IT Act notifications. Most-searched in India per Google Search Console.
| Acronym | Full form | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| TLS | Transport Layer Security | Cryptographic protocol that secures HTTPS, email and most internet traffic between client and server. |
| SSL | Secure Sockets Layer | Legacy predecessor to TLS — the name often persists in casual usage even though all modern systems use TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3. |
| DSC | Digital Signature Certificate | PKI certificate issued by a CCA-licensed Certifying Authority in India, used for GST, ROC and tax filings. |
| CRL | Certificate Revocation List | Periodic list of certificates that a Certification Authority has revoked before their natural expiry. |
| PKI | Public Key Infrastructure | Framework of certificates, certification authorities and revocation mechanisms that underpins digital signatures. |
| AES | Advanced Electronic Signature | Middle level under eIDAS — uniquely linked to signer, tamper-evident, under sole control. Not the AES encryption algorithm. |
| QES | Qualified Electronic Signature | Highest level under eIDAS — equivalent to a handwritten signature in all 27 EU Member States. |
| SES | Simple Electronic Signature | Lowest level under eIDAS — any digital signal of consent (typed name, checkbox, drawn signature). |
| QSCD | Qualified Signature Creation Device | Hardware certified Common Criteria EAL4+ on which QES signatures are created. Required for eIDAS Article 26 compliance. |
| QTSP | Qualified Trust Service Provider | EU-listed organisation authorised to issue qualified certificates, seals and time-stamps under eIDAS. |
| HSM | Hardware Security Module | Dedicated physical device for the secure generation, storage and operation of cryptographic keys. |
| ECC | Elliptic Curve Cryptography | Asymmetric cryptography family used in modern TLS and signature schemes — smaller keys than RSA at equivalent security. |
| RSA | Rivest-Shamir-Adleman | Asymmetric cryptography algorithm named after its inventors. Still widely used despite ECC offering equivalent strength with smaller keys. |
| SHA | Secure Hash Algorithm | Family of cryptographic hash functions (SHA-1 deprecated, SHA-256 and SHA-512 in current use for digital signatures). |
| KYC | Know Your Customer | Identity-verification process required by Indian regulators for banking, financial services and digital signature issuance. |
| eKYC | Electronic Know Your Customer | Digital alternative to in-person KYC, commonly performed in India via Aadhaar OTP or Aadhaar biometric authentication. |
| OTP | One-Time Password | Short-lived code sent via SMS, email or authenticator app for two-factor authentication or e-signature step-up. |
| OCSP | Online Certificate Status Protocol | Real-time alternative to CRLs — clients query the CA to confirm a certificate is still valid at signing time. |
| DPDP | Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 | India's flagship data-protection statute, in operational force since 2024 — Indian equivalent of the EU GDPR. |
| GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation | EU Regulation 2016/679 — the world's strictest personal-data law, applies to any business processing EU residents' data. |
| eIDAS | electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services | EU Regulation 910/2014 governing electronic signatures, seals, time-stamps and identity in all 27 Member States. |
| CLM | Contract Lifecycle Management | End-to-end management of contracts from drafting through negotiation, execution, renewal and archival. |
| ESP | eSign Service Provider | India-specific — CCA-licensed entity (C-DAC, NSDL, CDSL) that delivers Aadhaar-based eSign under IT Act Section 3A. |
| CCA | Controller of Certifying Authorities | Indian regulator that licenses Certifying Authorities and approves eSign Service Providers under the IT Act 2000. |
Browse by Indian language (6)
Same eight terms, dedicated vernacular pages for each Indian language. Looking for "esign meaning in hindi" or "biometric meaning in telugu"? Pick a language below.
हिंदी (Hindi)
~600M (Hindi belt + diaspora)
తెలుగు (Telugu)
~95M (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana)
தமிழ் (Tamil)
~80M (Tamil Nadu, Singapore, Sri Lanka)
বাংলা (Bengali)
~265M (West Bengal, Bangladesh diaspora)
मराठी (Marathi)
~95M (Maharashtra)
മലയാളം (Malayalam)
~38M (Kerala + Gulf diaspora — strong IT segment)