With the launch of eSign services by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July this year, digital signing of documents has gained greater significance.
EMudhra, a licensed certifying authority started in 2008 to issue digital signature certificates in India, is the first one to launch eSign services. Talking about it, V Srinivasan, executive chairman of eMudhra said, “The entire concept of digital signature was started in the year 2000 itself, but only in the last couple of years has it gained a lot more momentum.”
ESign is an online electronic signature service which can facilitate an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document within seconds. Srinivasan said, “With this linking of Aadhaar, not only customers but also certifying authorities like us as are benefited as there is no need of a longer verification system. Earlier, the process of verification took a lot of time.”
Seven licensed CAs
A certifying authority in India should procure licence from the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA). The IT Act provides for the CCA to license and regulate the working of certifying authorities. According to CCA websites, there are seven licensed CAs.
“We have 42 to 50 corporate customers and if you take retail, last financial year alone we had 8.60 lakh customers, who made use of digital signatures. If you take the previous financial year it was above four lakh. So we are seeing 100 per cent increase in the number of customers. Any individual can avail of this facility. There is no need to be physically present and sign a number of documents at the office, one can sign on the go,” said Srinivasan.
In his view, eSign can revolutionise the way business and governance is conducted and pave the way for a transformation into a paperless environment.
When asked about the cost involved in digital signatures, Srinivasan said for two years it would be between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000.
EMudhra has also launched eMlocker — a digital locker. Using eMlocker, one can store documents such as PAN and Aadhaar, among others. “At present, we are providing eMlocker for free. One can do unlimited number of documents downloads and uploads with free eSign,” he said, adding that 800 people have made use of this facility since July this year.