Section 13 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 answers two practical questions for anyone who sends or receives records electronically: when is a record treated as dispatched or received, and where? Each rule is a default, because it applies "save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee".
Dispatch occurs when the record enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. Receipt occurs when it enters the addressee's designated computer resource, or, if sent to another resource of the addressee, when it is retrieved; with no designated resource, when it enters the addressee's computer resource. The place of dispatch and receipt is the party's place of business. All of this gives way to what the parties have agreed.
Source and scope
This article follows the consolidated text consulted (the Act as amended by the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008). Later amendments and the current position of the section should be checked. Section 13 is in Chapter IV and works with sections 11 and 12, covered in our article on attribution and acknowledgment of electronic records. The terms "originator", "addressee" and "computer resource" are defined in section 2(1); see our article on section 2: computer, data, information, intermediary and cyber security. If your contracts depend on when a notice is deemed received, a contract review can align the notice clause with this section.
Sub-section (1): dispatch
"Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, the dispatch of an electronic record occurs when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator."
The test is control. A message sitting in the sender's own drafts or outbox on the sender's own system has not been dispatched. It is dispatched when it enters a computer resource outside the originator's control. The text does not name the resource; "computer resource" is defined in section 2(1)(k) as computer, computer system, computer network, data, computer database or software.
Sub-section (2): time of receipt
Save as otherwise agreed, the time of receipt is determined as follows.
| Situation | Time of receipt |
|---|---|
| (a)(i) The addressee has designated a computer resource for receiving electronic records, and the record enters it | When the record enters the designated computer resource |
| (a)(ii) The record is sent to a computer resource of the addressee that is not the designated one | When the record is retrieved by the addressee |
| (b) The addressee has not designated a computer resource along with specified timings, if any | When the record enters the computer resource of the addressee |
The word "designated" is not defined in the Act. It is the addressee's choice of where records should be received, for example a named mailbox given in a contract. Clause (b) reads "has not designated a computer resource along with specified timings, if any"; we quote it as printed.
Sub-section (3): place of dispatch and receipt
"Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, an electronic record is deemed to be dispatched at the place where the originator has his place of business, and is deemed to be received at the place where the addressee has his place of business."
Sub-section (4): where the computer is located does not matter
The provisions of sub-section (2) "shall apply notwithstanding that the place where the computer resource is located may be different from the place where the electronic record is deemed to have been received under sub-section (3)". A server in one city does not shift the deemed place of receipt away from the addressee's place of business.
Sub-section (5): finding the place of business
For the purposes of the section:
- (a) if the originator or the addressee has more than one place of business, the principal place of business is the place of business;
- (b) if the originator or the addressee does not have a place of business, his usual place of residence is deemed to be the place of business;
- (c) "usual place of residence", in relation to a body corporate, means the place where it is registered.
What the section does not say
- It prints no penalty, fee or period.
- It does not say which court or authority has jurisdiction. It states only a deemed place of dispatch and receipt. The sources used here say nothing further on that question.
- It does not decide whether a contract is formed when the record is received; section 10A, covered in our article on validity of contracts formed through electronic means, is limited to enforceability on the ground of electronic form.
- It does not deal with acknowledgment; section 12 does.
Practical drafting points
- Name the mailbox or portal that is "designated" for receiving notices, so that sub-section (2)(a) applies rather than the retrieval rule in (a)(ii).
- State in the agreement whether the parties are "otherwise agreeing" on time or place, because every rule in section 13 yields to agreement.
- Identify each party's principal place of business, since sub-section (5)(a) uses it.
- Remember that for a company the place where it is registered is its usual place of residence when it has no place of business.
A worked example
Ritu Fabrics LLP, whose principal place of business is in Surat, e-mails a revised payment schedule to Skyline Buying House, whose purchasing department has told Ritu in the contract that notices go to a named mailbox. Ritu's message leaves her system and enters her mail provider's server, a computer resource outside her control; on those facts dispatch occurs at that moment under sub-section (1). Skyline's mailbox receives it at 11:40 p.m.; because that is the designated resource, receipt occurs when the record enters it, even if nobody opens it until the next morning. The record is deemed dispatched at Surat and received at Skyline's place of business, wherever the mail server is physically located. If Ritu had sent it to another Skyline mailbox that was not designated, receipt would occur only when Skyline retrieved it. If the contract said that notices are effective only on a stated event, "save as otherwise agreed" means that agreement would govern.
Need help with notice clauses and electronic delivery?
If your contracts rely on e-mail notices, portals or automated delivery, we can align the clauses on designated mailboxes, timing and place of business with the Act. Ask for a contract review and bring the notice and communication clauses.
Key takeaways
- Dispatch occurs when the record enters a computer resource outside the originator's control.
- Receipt depends on whether the addressee designated a computer resource.
- Deemed place is the place of business, with principal place of business, residence and registered place as fallbacks.
- Everything is subject to what the originator and addressee have agreed.
- Section 13 prints no penalty and no period.
Read next
- Sections 11 and 12: attribution and acknowledgment of electronic records
- Section 10A: validity of contracts formed through electronic means
- Sections 14 to 16: secure electronic record and secure electronic signature
- E-contracts and digital signatures: validity in India
Disclaimer: Based on a consolidated copy of the Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended by the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, on the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 as originally notified on 25 February 2021 and on the CERT-In Directions of 28 April 2022, read with the amendments made to the Act by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 and by section 44 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, as consulted on 2 October 2026. Commencement notifications, other amendments, rules, directions and the current position of each provision are not covered and should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.