The Registrar General and Conservator of Mortgages of Mauritius (Registrar General) now requires any electronically submitted deed or document, including those signed using secure electronic signatures, to include a mandatory declaration confirming that the electronic signatures used by the parties complies with Section 16 of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2000 (ETA).
This follows amendments to the Inscription of Privileges and Mortgages Act, 1946, the Transcription and Mortgage Act, 1863, and the Registration Duty Act, 1804, under the Finance Act, 2025. This requirement applies to all agreements submitted for registration and/ or registration and inscription and is relevant to both local and foreign parties in a cross-border transaction.
The declaration must confirm that each electronic signature is uniquely linked to the signatory, capable of identifying them, created under their sole control, and linked to the document in a way that invalidates the signature if the document is altered.
Although there is no prescribed form for the wording of this declaration, it must satisfy the requirements as set out under Section 16 of the ETA and be embedded as a clause in the principal agreement rather than as a separate annexure or standalone document. This is to ensure it forms part of the agreement’s operative terms.
This practice was adopted to streamline the use of electronic signatures where physical signing may not always be practical. While, wet-ink signatures remain acceptable to the Registrar General, they do not trigger the requirement to have such a declaration clause in the principal agreement.
Parties to a cross-border transaction opting for electronic signatures should ensure that the declaration clause is included in the relevant agreement to avoid objections or subsequent clarification notices from the Registrar General regarding its registration or registration and inscription.
