India–EU FTA Digital Trade Chapter To Enable Secure E-Transactions: Jitin Prasada

New Delhi, Feb 14 (KNN) Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Friday that the digital trade chapter of the proposed India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) aims to establish a secure and facilitative framework for electronic transactions between the two regions.

Framework for Digital Trade

The minister noted that the proposed chapter seeks to promote paperless trade, e-invoicing, e-contracts and e-authentication to support goods and services trade. It also includes provisions on online consumer protection, cyber security, unsolicited electronic communications and source code to build trust in digital transactions. 

The framework emphasises regulatory and technical cooperation to help Indian startups, including MSMEs, access growing digital trade opportunities.

During the 16th India–EU Summit, India and the European Commission signed an Administrative Arrangement on Advanced Electronic Signatures and Seals on January 27, 2026. 

The arrangement provides interoperability of electronic signatures, seals and Public Key Infrastructure systems in line with the legal frameworks of both sides, and is expected to support secure cross-border digital transactions and market access under the FTA.

Digital Infrastructure and Cyber Security

Prasada highlighted key digital public infrastructure (DPI) initiatives. 

Aadhaar has generated over 143 crore digital identities. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) connects 685 banks and 6.5 crore merchants, accounting for 81 per cent of India’s digital payments and nearly half of global real-time transactions. DigiLocker has over 65 crore users and more than 950 crore issued documents, while UMANG provides access to over 2,390 government services through a single platform.

(KNN Bureau)