Class 3 Digital Signature Certificates

Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) provides the highest level of assurance or trust within the RCAI hierarchy setup of Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) in India. which is mainly used for Participate/Bid in Any Kind of On-line Tenders/Auction across India. Digital Signature Certificate Class 3 are issued to Individuals or Organizations. They are especially used to authenticate the identity of the vendors as well as buyers in any e-Procurement, e-Tendering and e-Bidding process.

This Digital certificate will be issued to individuals as well as organizations. As these are high assurance certificates, primarily intended for e-commerce applications, they shall be issued to individuals only on their personal (physical) appearance before the Certifying Authorities. Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate come in three validity, One Year, Two Years and Three Years.

A Digital Signature Certificate Class 3, on the other hand, is of a higher level as it is issued only after the registrant’s identity verification has been done by a Registration Authority.

There are many types of DSC that cater to specific needs. While e-Filing on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal, a DSC of Class 2 and Class 3 category is required.

What are the Types of Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate ?

1. Signing – Individual Individual.
2. Signing – Individual with Organization Name.

Why do I require a Digital Signature Certificate ?

A digital Signatur certificate (DSC) provides an electronic means of proving your identity. It also provides a high level of security for online transactions. You can use certificates to encrypt information so that only the recipient can read it. You can digitally sign information to provide assurance that the recipient has not been modified in transit, and allow verification that actually sent the message.

How does Digital Signature Work ?

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.