What is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?

The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides for use of Digital Signatures on the documents submitted in electronic form in order to ensure the security and authenticity of the documents filed electronically. This is the only secure and authentic way that a document can be submitted electronically. As such, all filings done by the companies under MCA21 e-Governance programme are required to be filed with the use of Digital Signatures by the person authorised to sign the documents.

Legal Warning:

You can use only the valid Digital Signatures issued to you. It is illegal to use Digital Signatures of anybody other than the one to whom it is issued.

Certification Agencies:

Certification Agencies are appointed by the office of the Controller of Certification Agencies (CCA) under the provisions of IT Act, 2000. There are a total of seven Certification Agencies authorised by the CCA to issue the Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs). The details of these Certification Agencies are available on the portal of the Ministry www.mca.gov.in

Class of DSCs:

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has stipulated a Class-II or above category signing certificate for e-filings under MCA21. A person who already has the specified DSC for any other application can use the same for filings under MCA21 and is not required to obtain a fresh DSC.

Validity of Digital Signatures:

The DSCs are typically issued with one year validity and two year validity. These are renewable on expiry of the period of initial issue.

Costing/ Pricing of Digital Signatures:

It includes the cost of medium (a UBS token which is a one time cost), the cost of issuance of DSC and the renewal cost after the period of validity. The company representatives and professionals required to obtain DSCs are free to procure the same from any one of the approved Certification Agencies as per the web site. The issuance costs in respect of each Agency vary and are market driven.

However, for the guidance of stakeholders, the Ministry has obtained the costs of issuance of DSCs at the consumer end from the Certification Agencies. The costs as intimated by them are as under:

Sr. No.	Name of Certification Agency (CA)	Cost of USB Cryptotoken	Cost of DSC with one year validity	Renewal Charges for DSC with one year validity	Cost of DSC with two year validity	Support charges
1.	MTNL CA	Reference of USB crypto token which the user can procure is provided on www.mtnltrustline.com.	Rs. 300/- ( for MTNL phone subscriber) and Rs. 450/- for others (Taxes extra)	Rs. 300/- ( for MTNL phone subscriber) and Rs. 450/- for others (Taxes extra)	Rs. 400/- ( for MTNL phone subscriber) and Rs. 600/- for others ( Taxes extra)	Inclusive
2.	TCS	Rs. 750 (Inclusive of 4% Sales Tax). Any other applicable Taxes Extra.	Rs. 1245 (Inclusive of 12.24% Sales Tax.) Any other applicable Taxes Extra.	Rs. 1000/- (Inclusive of 12.24% Sales Tax) Any other applicable Taxes Extra	Rs. 1900/- (Inclusive of 12.24% Sales Tax) Any other applicable taxes Extra	Not Provided by CA
3.	IDBRT	Not provided by the CA. The user can procure the token from market directly and get his DSC loaded into it	Rs. 750/- (Rs. 500/- towards administrative expenses and Rs 250/-for Certificate)	Rs. 750/-	Rs. 1500/-	Inclusive
4.	SAFESCRYPT (SATYAM)	Rs. 1000/- Taxes extra	Rs. 995/- (No service tax applicable)	Rs. 995/- (No service tax applicable)	Rs. 1650/- (No service tax applicable)	Rs. 500/- per site visit payable directly to the Authorised Partner.
5.	nCODE Solutions	Rs. 900/- (Inclusive of VAT/Sales Tax)	Rs. 1090/- (No service tax applicable)	Not Finalised	Rs. 1650/- (No service tax applicable)	Inclusive
6.	NIC	Certificate provided in Smart card. Cost of Card Rs. 400/-. For DSCs on USB token, the subscribers have to bring NICCA approved USB token	All certificates provided with 2 years validity	NIL	NIL for Government Rs. 150/- for PSU, Autonomous & Statutory Bodies	Training Charges: Rs. 500/- per participant (optional)
7.	Central Excise & Customs	Does not issue DSCs to person other than those from the Department
8.	e-Mudhra (3i Infotech Consumer Services Limited)	Rs 700/- • Exclusive of VAT / Sales Tax / Courier charges	Rs. 899/- • Service tax not applicable	Rs. 899/- • Service tax not applicable	Rs. 1149/- • Service tax not applicable	Inclusive of Telephonic or Web support