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About this tool
Find which MCA, income tax, GST, DGFT and e-tender filings need a Class 3 digital signature certificate, and which allow EVC instead.
This checker tells you which of your filings legally require a digital signature certificate and which accept an electronic verification code instead, naming the rule behind each answer. It applies rule 12(3) of the Income-tax Rules for returns, rule 26(1) of the CGST Rules for GST, rule 8 of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules for MCA e-forms, and the e-procurement requirements that make an encryption certificate necessary alongside the signing one. Since the Controller of Certifying Authorities stopped Class 2 issuance on 1 January 2021, every answer here is a Class 3 certificate.
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Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Each verdict names the section, rule or portal requirement it rests on.
Flags the filings that need a combination certificate rather than signing alone.
A DSC is personal and non-transferable, so the result is one certificate per signatory.
Every MCA e-form, the income tax return of a company or of any person audited under section 44AB, GST filings by a company or LLP under rule 26(1), DGFT and ICEGATE filings, IP e-filings, EPFO employer attestations and all government e-tenders. Other taxpayers may verify by EVC or Aadhaar OTP instead.
No new Class 2 certificates have been issued since 1 January 2021, following the revised CCA Interoperability Guidelines. Class 3 is now the single class used for MCA, income tax, GST, DGFT, e-tendering and every other application, so any renewal will be a Class 3 certificate.
A signing certificate proves who submitted a document and that it has not been altered. An encryption certificate is what lets a sealed bid be encrypted to the recipient and decrypted at the opening event. E-tender and e-auction portals need both, which is why they ask for a combination certificate rather than a signature-only one.
No. A DSC is issued in a named individual's capacity and the private key must stay in that person's hardware crypto token, certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 2 or higher. Sharing it means one person is signing in another's name, which defeats the legal effect the Information Technology Act gives the signature. Buy one certificate per signatory.