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  • Indian Government is going after 'mobile governance' and one aspect of it is to recognise SMS message on the phone as an official document. For example, you won't have to show a 'stamped' document as a proof of having paid your bills; but an SMS confirming the same would do. I'd also believe that this move may put an end to the stupid thing called 'attestation' that you still have to keep on searching for a gazetted officer for a signature and a stamp.

    SMS has already began getting more importance - from Movie Tickets to Train Tickets; SMS is already being accepted as a valid official document.

    Do you see any downsides of this move? If SMS is accepted; should we also accept a message sent via WeChat or WhatsApp as a valid proof of something? For example - I want attestation on my certificate and I get the signing authority to send me a message on WhatsApp. Should that be considered as a valid document?
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  • Anoop Kumar

    Member • Dec 23, 2013

    SMSes are accepted as 1st step of verification that your have particular token, not the PROOF if valid document. That token can be carried in any form paper/sms/screenshot. Now we are preferring sms since it reduces paper use and handy to carry.

    You have IRCTC sms but it contains number which should be verified against your proof of identity.
    Movie ticket also have number which needs to be verified.

    Few years earlier, I knew there ware some sites from which allow you to send sms to any number from any identity. I verified it.
    I am sure such websites still exits.

    For any verified document, a signature is required either handwritten or digital signature (PDF's).
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  • yogi.bharadwaj

    Member • Dec 24, 2013

    Kaustubh Katdare
    Indian Government is going after 'mobile governance' and one aspect of it is to recognise SMS message on the phone as an official document. For example, you won't have to show a 'stamped' document as a proof of having paid your bills; but an SMS confirming the same would do. I'd also believe that this move may put an end to the stupid thing called 'attestation' that you still have to keep on searching for a gazetted officer for a signature and a stamp.

    SMS has already began getting more importance - from Movie Tickets to Train Tickets; SMS is already being accepted as a valid official document.

    Do you see any downsides of this move? If SMS is accepted; should we also accept a message sent via WeChat or WhatsApp as a valid proof of something? For example - I want attestation on my certificate and I get the signing authority to send me a message on WhatsApp. Should that be considered as a valid document?
    sir as you say sms getting valid or more importance day by day and its cool but i think there should be some restrictions also there for now our society is not at all so much high that it can accept the certification as leagel on sms because till now a large no. of people do not have knowledge to data security so you can assume how much we require for doing this step.
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  • Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran

    Member • Dec 27, 2013

    I accept, agree and welcome the move on "Mobile Governance" and it would be very beneficiary to customers as it would lead to hassle free experience in terms of travel of any other thing especially tickets but reaching the mass is difficult and its a tme consuming process. Who knows??? It can be a reality in near future. If it was considered to process in which large money is involved I consider that SMS as a "partial "proof only. It had to be verified but you want to note that verification would be easy if we match certain Serial No or key no.
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  • Anil Jain

    Member • Dec 27, 2013

    Kaustubh Katdare
    SMS has already began getting more importance - from Movie Tickets to Train Tickets; SMS is already being accepted as a valid official document.
    For movie ticket SMS, you have to show that sms at the movie hall counter where he verifies the order number, verifies payment, your identity and then hand over the movie ticket to you as a token to enter in the hall.

    For train ticket SMS, TT verifies the PNR number, your id and then only you are allowed to travel.

    So in these cases SMS works as a medium / reference of your identity; still we are some distance when phone SMS can be taken as identity. Make sense?

    -CB
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  • Nayan Goenka

    Member • Jan 22, 2014

    SMS can be spoofed and fakely generated. Official or important documents? no
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  • Shrikant Bedekar

    Member • Jan 23, 2014

    Any document whether hard copy or soft, doesn't by itself becomes official and valid for transparent and effective commercial dealings. The attestation was introduced for this very purpose to provide some sort of validation and enforce-ability in times of a dispute. But alas it has been used by babus as yet another tool for merely serving the last of its very purpose as any other instrument facilitating validation to any document - harassment of the common man. If SMS is at all to be used as an effective and official document for commercial transactions then some sort of validation system must be in place, such as an e-sign already on the SMS when you decide to use it for an official purpose.
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  • Mrinmoy Swarnakar

    Member • Jan 23, 2014

    "SMSes are accepted as 1st step of verification" rightly said by #-Link-Snipped-#.
    If message sent via WeChat or WhatsApp are made legal.... It might create security problems. As normal messages are also not fully secure to be considered fully legal.
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  • Dhananjay Harkare

    Member • Jan 24, 2014

    SMSes could be accepted as official document only if there's a level of genuinity.
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  • Chirayu Samarth

    Member • Jan 24, 2014

    SMSes can be accepted as a proof in case of booking movie tickets but in legal matters SMSes cannot be accepted as a proof because it does not certify to be true, it can be a spam. Already people have several means of making frauds, this might just give them another way to continue their wrong doings.
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