Digital Keys (DSC)

Digital Keys (DSC)

DSC or Digital signature certificate is a document through which we can electronically sign the forms. DSC enables us to e-sign the documents and it is a prerequisite in trademark registration, company registration, GST registration, and many other e-forms. Now a days, Digital Signatures play a vital role in filing of tax and tenders in most Government portals.

When we register to get Digital keys, we are made available with two high-security tools:

1. Digital Signature Certificate

2. USB token (Pen drive)

What is DSC?

DSC or Digital Signature Certificate is a highly secured document meant for digitally signing online documents and e- forms. In this dynamite technology-driven workspace, the need for secured identity plays a vital role. Earlier it was easy to forget the signature or duplicate the identity of any user. To climb and cross the issue, an encrypted key with unique signature which can’t be duplicated by others has been introduced.

Benefits of DSC

Individuals and company can file their income tax returns using a DSC. Digital signature certificates are mandatory for signing various e-forms of companies.  DSC is a tool for authentication and reliability, that the personal information is certified with the help of it. The documents which are signed digitally can’t be modified and hence it solves the purpose of the integrity of data. A document signed manually is less reliable than a document signed digitally through DSC.

• Importance of DSC

In this technology-friendly world, it is essential to have DSC, when individuals or entities are required to undergo any audit as per the statute or Company law, they need to file their audit and income tax return via using DSC.

MCA has laid down compulsions over the companies to attach their digital signature underneath the reports, applications, forms, and documents.

GST reports and returns are also verified through DSC.

Thus, DSC has occupied a predominant place for authentication in this techno world.

• Types of DSC(Class)

There are three types of DSC namely Class 1, 2, and 3. Although class 2 DSC has been discontinued with effect from 01.01.2021, Class 3 DSC has been issued in place of Class 2 DSC now.

1. Class 1 DSC: This class of DSC is issued to Individuals/private subscribers in order to confirm the address, email and contact details that are with the data base of Certifying Authority.
2. Class 2 DSC: Discontinued from 01/01/2021.  It was being issued to directors of the companies for e-filling purposes of ROC forms and other Government e-forms.
3. Class 3 DSC: It is being used for almost all purposes and so called as multipurpose DSC. Following are some of them –

• GST Return filing
• Income tax filing
• MCA Compliances and e-form filing
• EPF and Director KYC
• Import export code
• For e-tendering applications
• Trademark Registration
• e-Bidding
• e-Procurement
• e-Auction

Certifying authorities for issuance of digital certificate are,

Certification Agencies are appointed by the office of the Controller of Certification Agencies (CCA) under the provisions of the IT Act, 2000.

eMudhra is one of the leading certifying authorities for the issuance of Digital Signature Certificate. Other certifying authorities are,

1. Safescrypt
2. Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT)
3. (n) Code Solutions
4. e-Mudhra
5. CDAC
6. Capricorn
7. NSDL e-Gov
8. Vsign (Verass)
9. Indian Air Force
10. CSC
11. RISL (RajComp)
12. Indian Army
13. IDSign
14. CDSL Ventures
15. Panta Sign
16. Xtra Trust
17. Indian Navy

Documents Required for DSC Application

1. Passport size photo
2. Aadhaar card for address proof
3. PAN card as photo id proof

How to Apply for DSC?

Applying for DSC through the MCA portal is a very easy process.  You can follow the steps given below for quickly acquiring a Digital signature certificate online:

1. Visit the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal and click on “MCA services”.
2. Go to DSC services and click on “acquire DSC”.
3. We can choose any certifying authority that has been granted a license to issue DSC by the Government and the popular one among them is “E-Mudhra”.
4. Once we are navigated to the e-mudhra website click on the “buy certificate” option.
5. Then the user can enter some details like DSC is for an individual or an organization, certificate type which can be either signature or encryption or both and so on.
6. When we click buy certificate, we have to fill in the name and mobile number and get OTP verification.
7. After OTP verification a form will be displayed asking for personal details and contact information, which is to be filled by the user.
8. The user can choose the “USB token” option to get the highly secured Pen drive form digital signature. This is optional to receive DSC in the form of Pen drive or not. Also, it has an additional cost.
9. Next, user can click on proceed to pay and a payment gateway would be displayed to complete the process.
10. The last step would be recording video for the process of video verification. Under this process, we need to keep our Aadhar card and PAN card with us and simply follow the steps for recording a video for verification.
11. We can also record a video again; In case we have any trouble in recording earlier and then submit that video.
12. Then the user can download his/her online digital signature certificate on approval.