Class 3 a/b digital signature certificates are issued to Individual or organization for various purposes. Class 3 A/B digital signatures for individuals/Organization is certificate that provides highest level of assurance within the RCAI hierarchy setup by CCA ( Controller of Certifying Authorities) in India which is mainly used for e-tendering or e-procurement or e-bidding.

To participate in the e-tendering process, every vendor is required to use a Class 3B Digital Signature Certificate. Class 3 Digital Signatures are issued to individuals, organizations and devices and applicable for personal and commercial use. Typically, they are used for Electronic Data Exchange ( EDI ) , internet banking/broking-tendering and other web-based transactions where confidentiality and authenticity are critical.     

What is the difference between Class 3 Digital Signature issued to Individuals or Organizations ?

Individual ( Class 3 a Digital Signature Certificates) : Class 3a Individual certificates issued to individuals or devices and encompass primarily high end security-sensitive online activity.

Organization ( Class 3b Digital Signature certificates) : Class 3b Organization certificates those are used for signing, encryption, electronic access control, e-commerce, and online financial transactions that require a strong  assertion of the customer’s identity. The validation procedures for class 3 Organization  certificates includes confirmation that the org. does in fact exist, authorization from the org. for the certificate applicant.

Note : Class 3 Digital Signature Certificates are legally valid as per Indian Information Technology Act, 2000.