Why Digital Signatures is Important for Startups?
- Published On: 26/01/2021 12:00 am
A digital signature is an electronic signature used by senders of certain documents to demonstrate that they are the source of the document. They are incredible in ensuring the document’s safety and if the document gets interfered with during the sending process, due to the digital signature, the recipient will be able to know there has been an alteration.
Usually, to validate their authenticity, physical documents like invoices will always need a handwritten signature. Electronic documents will also need authentication, just in the same way. That’s the role that digital signatures play. They are for the authentication of an electronic document.
Digital signature certificates include the name of the person, the pin code, the name of the person’s country, the email address, the date the certificate was issued, and the name of the certifying authority. This certificate gives the digital signature further validation. In the recent past, the need of digital signatures has increased drastically.
The digital signatures can be used by anyone for any reason, it does not have restrictions. This means that it is possible to use digital signatures in so many aspects of life. The digital signatures can be used for personal use, business, return for filing GST, filing Income Tax, etc.
For digital signatures, different countries have different provisions. Regulations for their creation and use have been developed by governments, and this has helped with the adoption, reliability and trustworthiness of digital signatures. In order for a digital signature to be efficient and reliable, it must be created within the limits of industry-standards-bound cryptography. It may otherwise be questionable. Basically, there are four types of digital signature certificates in India:
Class 1: Class 1 DSC is used only for the identification of a specific person’s credentials. It cannot be used for authentication and therefore no documents can be signed.
Class 2: The signer’s identity is verified against a trusted, pre-verified database in this case. It is issued for purposes such as the filing of e-returns of income tax, returns from the MCA/ROC (Ministry of Corporate Affairs/Registrar of Companies), provident fund claims, etc.
Class 3: This is the highest DSC level where the individual needs to be physically present and prove his/her identity with appropriate documents before the Registration Authority. For online tickets, e-tenders e-procurement, and more the certificate is most commonly used for booking.
DGFT Digital Signature Certificate: The DGFT Digital Signature Certificate is issued by the Directorate-General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) and is used for signing transactions in foreign trade and when communicating with the DGFT.
Benefits of DSC Signature
Simple and Convenient
A digital signature’s greatest advantage is its simplicity and ease of use. Once the signer has obtained his/her digital signature, applying it to any document and sending it through in a secure manner becomes very simple. The recipient signs the document and is finished with the process. It’s that simple and it can be achieved from the comfort of the office.
In comparison to traditional paper documents, e-business is the norm and everyone chooses to send documents via electronic media. In such scenarios, digital signatures are essential. They not only contain the sender’s signature, but also contain traceable information about who signed the document, when it was signed, and where. These inherent digital signature characteristics enforce greater security than a conventional paper document.
All companies operate in locations that are geographically disparate. Even small businesses in different states, cities and even countries have to deal with suppliers, customers and partners. Digital signature makes online authentication easier, which makes it a very convenient solution instead of a printed and scanned version based on paper.
Inherently, the convenience of digital signatures implies a quicker turnaround time. A digital signature authentication occurs at the click of a button instead of involving several players, who will handle printing, signing, scanning and sending one side of the business transaction and the same set of actions on the other side. Naturally, it provides companies with the required agility, edge and helps to build trust with their stakeholders.
Certainly, a digital signature is extremely cost-effective, with the entire merchandise of manual printing, signing, and scanning going out of the way. In addition, it saves paper. All this adds up to the company’s revenues over a longer period of time.
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