About MCA21

MCA21 is an e-governance project of the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), Government of India which is not only welcomed by all industrial sectors but also by professionals. Under this e-governance project, paper based environment will evolve into a paperless one. New set of e-forms are especially designed for this project. These e-forms are available in various file formats and can be freely downloaded from the MCA Website, www.mca.gov.in, which is accessible round the clock i.e 24x7 hrs making filing of the e-forms also possible at any time of 24x7.

Obligations for e-FILING

e-filing makes it compulsory to procure a Class-2 Digital Signature Certificate and a Computer System running following softwares along with internet access.

# Windows 2000 / Windows XP        # Internet Explorer 6.0 & above
# Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.5         # Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

Types of Digital Signature Certificate

There are 3 types of Digital Signature Certificates,namely :-  Class-1, Class-2  and Class-3. Each has its own level of security and is meant for a particular category of professional and or sector of industry.

Components of a Digital Signature Certificate

1. Your public key: any one can get a copy of this and is part of the verification system.
2. Your name and e-mail address: This is necessary for contact information purposes and to enable the viewer to identify the details.
3. Expiration date of the public key: This part of the signature is used to set a shelf life and to ensure that in the event of prolonged abuse of a signature eventually the signature is reset.
4. Name of the company: This section identifies the company that the signature belongs too.
5. Serial number of the Digital ID: This part is a unique number that is bundled to the signature for tracking ad extra identification reasons.
6. Digital signature of the CA (Certification Authority): This is a signature that is issued by the authority that issues the certificates.

Use of Digital Signature Certificate

Digital Signature Certificate can be used to access secured zones of web sites where member login is required, surpassing the requirement of entering the user name and password. It insures by means of verification and validation that the user is whom he/she claims to be. This is done by combining the users credential to the digital certificate and in turn this method uses one point of authentication. Digital certificates ensure confidentiality and ensure that messages can only be read by authorized intended recipients. Digital certificates also verify date and time so that senders or recipients can not dispute if the message was actually sent or received.

Sending Digitally Signed Mail

You can also use your Digital Signature Certificate to digitally sign your emails sent through Outlook Express / MS-Outlook etc. Digitally signing the mail authenticates your identity and enables the receiver to ensure that the mail has come from you only. It also ensures that the content of the mail is not tampered in the transit and the mail received by the receiver is the same what you have sent.

Professionals who require Digital Signature Certificate

Under MCA21 all the authorized signatories of company and professionals who sign the manual documents and returns filed with ROC is required to obtain a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC). Therefore following personnel have to procure Digital Signature Certificate:

1. Directors
2. CA’s/Auditors
3. Company Secretary - Whether in practice or in job.
4. Bank Officials - for Registration and Satisfaction of Charges
5. Other Authorized Signatories.

Credentials required with Application Form

Proof of identity, a self attested copy of PAN Card. Valid Active PAN with the Income Tax Department.
Proof of residence - Any one, a self attested copy of latest bill: WATER / ELECTRICITY / POWER / TELEPHONE / CREDIT CARD or VOTER’S ID CARD / DRIVING LICENSE/PASSPORT in the applicant’s name for address confirmation.

Why USB e-token ?

Information about Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) resides in certificate section of Internet Options of computer system but keeping DSC details on computer system in this way has the following draw backs-:

a) It can be misused by unauthorized person.
b) If the computer system fails or internet explorer is changed DSC is lost.