Which Class of Digital Signature Certificate is Used for e-Tendering?

Posted by Praveen Goyal
3
Aug 11, 2015
463 Views
Before knowing about the class of digital signature certificate used for e-tendering, you need to know about the digital signature certificate and its different types. It will certainly help you in differentiating between the various types of digital signature certificate and their usages. Read the below-given lines of this article to get the exact idea about the digital signature certificate and their different usages.

Digital signature certificate is a tool which is used to make safe and secure online transaction and documentation. It contains the confidential information of the user including his/her name, contact address, phone number, PAN along with the information of the Certifying Authorities that approves the identity of the user through its certificate. The entire information is in encrypted form and stored on a FIPS secured USB Token.

The USB Token containing the digital signature certificate comprises of two keys: Private Key and Public Key. Both the keys should match in order to complete any online communication using the digital signature certificate. Now, let’s talk about different types of digital signature certificate. There are currently three types of DSC i.e. Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 are issued in India by the Controller of Certifying Authorities certified Certifying Authorities (CAs).

These certificates come with the validity of one or two years. It means, the applicants should renew the digital signature certificate before its expiry date, in order to use it. Class 1 digital signature is the easiest form of digital signature certificate. The applicants are not required to submit any documents. Usually, this kind of digital signature certificate is used by the employers while communicating with their employees through e-mails.

In addition, Class 2 Digital Signature Certificate is issued in two forms – Class 2 A (Individual User) and Class 2 B (Company User). Class 2 A digital signature certificate is issued to an individual seeking to file income tax e-return or file PF claims. However, Class 2 B Digital Signature Certificate is issued to the company users for e-tendering and other online communication processes.

The third and last type of DSC i.e. Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate is also issued in two forms i.e. Class 3 A and Class 3 B, like Class 2 DSC. Class 3 A Digital Signature Certificate is issued to IRCTC agents to book railway tickets on the official web portal of IRCTC. On the other hand, Class 3 B digital signature certificate is issued to the company users to participate in the e-tendering, e-auctioning, e-biding and trademark e-filing process.

The above-given lines of this article clearly show that Class 2 B and Class 3 B digital signature certificates are used to complete the e-tendering process.

In case you need more information about the Digital Signature Certificate for e-Tendering, you can contact to e-Solutions or visit its official website: http://www.digitalsignaturecertificates.info.
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