The DSC is typically issued with one and two year validity. It includes the cost of medium (a UBS token which is a onetime cost) the cost of issuance of Digital Signature and the renewal cost after the period of validity. The issuance costs in respect of each Certification Agency vary and are market driven.

Digital Signature Certificate, in simple terms, is a file created by a Licensed Certifying Authority through encryption and is then issued to you, in the USB eToken. When signing any particular document this file is accessed, which acts like a ‘key’ (Private Key) and locks & secures the document being signed (through encryption). [This is similar to using a key in a physical lock to secure your valuables in a bank locker – a lock can only be opened by its own key].

In addition to locking the document being signed, this file also adds a Digital Certificate to it containing your identity details, viz. name, Organization’s name, email ID, etc.

It also adds a key code (known as public key) which is the same key that resides in the certifying authority server, thereby allowing the other party to validate the authenticity of your DSC.

Contrary to popular myth, the DSC does NOT contain a scanned copy of your physical signature.

A digital signature is a way to ensure that an electronic document (e-mail, spreadsheet, text file, etc.) is authentic. Authentic means that you know who created the document and you know that it has not been altered in any way since that person created it. Digital Signature Certificates are used to sign electronic documents and Digital Signatures rely on certain types of encryption to ensure authentication.

In India, DSC was first used by Registrar of Companies (ROC) when the Ministry of Company Affairs transitioned into e-filing of statutory returns. The benefit accrued through the same was adopted by other government agencies in India and today it’s being widely used. Some of the popular uses of DSC are as below:

• e-filing of Income Tax Returns: An assessee can file his/her Income Tax Return online and those who sign their returns digitally do not have to send the physical copies of the same to the Income Tax Department for verification.
• e-filing of Company Returns (ROC): To ensure statutory compliance for companies in India, the Registrar of Companies (ROC) has now made e-filing mandatory and a DSC is required to do the same.
• e-tender / e-Procurement: Many of the state governments as well as other government agencies in India have transitioned to e-procurement and you need a DSC to bid for tenders online.

A RA (Registration Authority) is an agent of the Certifying Authority who collects the application forms and related documents for DSC, verifies the information submitted and approves or rejects the application based on the results of the verification process.

No, a digital signature is unique and thus two or more individuals/entities cannot have the same digital signature.

We provide the following types of digital signatures:

• Class 2 Organization (i.e. Class 2b)
• Class 3 Individual (i.e. Class 3a)
• Class 3 Organization (i.e. Class 3b)
• DGFT