Contracts & e-signature

Creating a contract

1. Go to Contracts → Create.
2. Pick a template — these are pre-authored clause sets approved by your legal counsel. (See Clause library for adding your own.)
3. Select parties — at minimum: agency, brand, talent. For multi-party (e.g. co-rep) you can add more signers.
4. Fill in variables — placeholders in the template like [ratePercent], [territory], [amountINR]. Each is typed (percentage / currency / date / enum).
5. Click Save as draft. The contract appears in /admin/contracts with status "draft."
6. Review the assembled clauses in Preview. Edit variables or swap clauses if needed.

Sending for signature

1. Open the contract → "Send for signature" → opens a signature packet creation modal.
2. Configure signing order:
   • Sequential — signers go in order (signer 1 → signer 2 → signer 3). Recommended when one party drafts and others approve.
   • Parallel — any signer can sign first. Faster for low-conflict contracts.
3. Set identity verification level per signer:
   • email_only — basic; click a link
   • sms_otp — phone OTP confirmation (recommended for talent)
   • aadhaar_esign — full Aadhaar-backed eSign (highest weight, India-specific)
   • biometric — fingerprint / faceID via mobile app
4. Expiry: default 14 days. Adjust per contract.
5. Click Send. Each signer gets an email + SMS with a unique signing link.

Signing a contract

When a signer clicks their signing link, they land on /admin/contracts/[id]/sign:

1. Review packet status + all signer states
2. Read the full contract (PDF view)
3. Enter verification code (SMS OTP or email link)
4. Check the IT Act consent checkbox
5. Click Sign Contract

Each signature creates a hash-chained audit event capturing IP, device, geo, timestamp, and document hash. This is what makes our signatures evidentiary under IT Act §10A and Indian Evidence Act §65B.

Declining a contract

If a signer disagrees with terms, they click Decline on the sign page, provide a reason (minimum 3 characters), and confirm. This:

• Halts the packet — no further signatures accepted
• Sends a notification to the contract owner with the decline reason
• Logs an immutable signature_declined event in the audit chain
• Other signers (if any) cannot sign

To proceed, the owner must create a new signature packet (e.g. after amending the contract). The declined packet remains in the audit history as evidence.

Voiding a packet (owner action)

If you (the contract owner) need to cancel a packet before all signatures complete — for example, you discovered an error or the deal fell through — use the Void Packet button on the sign page.

• Requires a reason (min 3 chars) — captured in audit log
• All pending signers get a cancellation notification
• Packet status becomes voided — cannot be revived
• Original contract remains as draft — you can edit and create a new packet

Amendments after signing

Once a contract is fully signed (status: completed), you cannot edit it directly. Instead, use Amendments:

1. Open the signed contract → "+ Amendment"
2. Edit clauses or add new ones — diff view shows what's changing
3. Send the amendment for signature (creates a new packet referencing the original)
4. Once all parties sign the amendment, it supersedes the original clauses for those sections

Clause categories

Each contract is built from clauses across these 14 categories: