New USB Token Guidelines by CCA are now live. The latest November 2022 circular is in force. Old Tokens are now not usable. It will be going to add more burden to the common man as well as the DSC resellers.
As per the new guideline issued by CCA on 14th November 2022, there is going to be a major change in the USB Token software part. Please go through the following points to know all points in detail. With effect from 1-Apr-2023 following changes must be implemented.
USB Token Guidelines
No new USB Token shall be issued with the PIN Reset Option. It means all token manufacturers must disable the option to reset the token pin at the user level.
Users need to change the default token pin/password before downloading the certificate into it.
USB tokens should come with a unique serial numbering system with the first two digits containing the OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) name code. For example, WATCHDATA PROXKEY will have serial numbers like WD12345678. Similarly, HYP2003 will have serial numbers like HS12345678901 and so on. Refer to the following image for more clarification.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE OLD SERIES OF TOKENS?
You can use the old series tokens till 31st March 2023 to download DSC.
Existing old tokens in which DSC is present will work till they are valid.
After expiry, the old tokens are not usable to re-issue new DSC.
The old Series tokens will not work to download the new certificate from April 1, 2023.
To avoid a loss to the partner on account of unused stocks, the existing unused Tokens (Brand New) are eligible for an update to comply with New Guidelines 2.0 on a chargeable basis.
Old HYP2003 tokens are eligible for an update while ePass2003auto Tokens are not eligible for the update. Similarly, Emudhra, Vsign, Capricorn & Pantasign branded tokens are not eligible for the update.
Proxkey Watchdata tokens are eligible for an update if the serial number is greater than 3900000 only. It means any Watchdata Proxkey token having serial numbers below 3900000 can not be updated.
Please note that only brand-new tokens are eligible for the update. If the tokens are used in any way, they are not eligible for an update.
The unused token update facility is open from 20-Mar-2023 to 20-Apr-2023 only. It is only there to prevent our business partners from any financial loss.
Proxkey Watchdata Token CSP Upgrade is very easy. You need to follow the following 8 points to upgrade your token to CSP 2.0, the latest one.
Proxkey Watchdata is one of the popular PKI tokens to store digital certificates. Without the latest CSP version, new certificates can not be downloaded. So the following points should be taken care of to get it done.
1 – Download Proxkey Watchdata Token CSP Upgrade Utility from this link. You need to run it after it is downloaded. The token should be connected to your computer during the process. You should uninstall the token driver before performing the upgrade process.
2 – Once you open the software, it will look like the image shown below.
Proxkey Watchdata Token CSP Upgrade Utility
3 – Click on the ‘Get Update Key’ button for the update code. Remember your token remains connected to the PC/laptop during the entire process. Also, close or uninstall the token driver.
4 – Now a browser will open and ask to enter the coupon code as shown below. Visit Update Token CSP Key to order your coupon code for this purpose.
CSP Upgrade Procedure
5 – It takes 10 to 15 minutes to get the coupon code. It will be sent to the email ID that you set during the checkout. Collect it and enter it in the coupon code field.
6 – After the successful submission of the coupon code, a confirmation screen will be shown. You need to click on the ‘Generate Upgrade Key’ button to generate one.
Proxkey Token Upgrade Key
7 – Now a new screen will open containing the upgrade key. Just copy the code and paste it into the upgrade utility software. Now click on the ‘Update Token’ button as displayed below.
Proxkey CSP upgrade key submission
8 – If everything works normally, you will get a successful message. Click OK and your Proxkey token is now upgraded to CSP 2.0 successfully.
Unlock Proxkey Watchdata Token in 5 simple steps. The unlock or unblock process is very easy and straightforward. Follow the instructions given below to unblock your Proxkey Watchdata USB Token.
Step 1: Connect your Proxkey Token to your computer. Login to the token manager and check the validity of the certificate.
Step 2: If there is no certificate inside the token or if the certificate is expired, place a request here for the token unblock.
Step 3: Now send an OTP to your registered email ID from your computer and enter it in your Proxkey token manager
Step 4: After successful authentication, your token will be unlocked. The system will ask to enter a new pin.
Step 5: Enter a new pin for your token & start using it.
If any support is required to unlock the Proxkey Watchdata token, place an order here for professional help.
Aadhaar Offline XML File is a secure and shareable document that can be used by any Aadhaar holder for offline verification of identification. This is also called Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC. Any Aadhaar holder can securely download his/her Aadhaar Offline XML/Zip file for paperless e-KYC.
After downloading the Zip file you can extract it using the share code. The extract file should be an XML file containing vital information about your Aadhaar. You can use any one file format or both while applying DSC.
Some verification processes ask for zip format attachments while others ask to upload XML format only. These are the only two methods of using the offline Aadhar verification process.
The Fourth Schedule of IP India provides the class list of TradeMark registration. Following is the TradeMark Class list as prescribed:
Name of the classes (Parts of an article or apparatus are, in general, classified with the actual article or apparatus, except where such parts constitute articles included in other classes)
Class 1. Chemical used in industry, science, photography, agriculture, horticulture, and forestry; unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed plastics; manures; fire extinguishing compositions; tempering and soldering preparations; chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; tanning substances; adhesives used in industry.
Class 2. Paints, varnishes, lacquers; preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colorants; mordents; raw natural resins; metals in foil and powder form for painters; decorators; printers and artists.
Class 3. Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning; polishing; scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps; perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, dentifrices.
Class 4. Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; dust absorbing, wetting, and binding compositions; fuels(including motor spirit) and illuminants; candles, wicks.
Class 5. Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, food for babies; plasters, materials for dressings; materials for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparation for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides.
Class 6. Common metals and their alloys; metal building materials; transportable buildings of metal; materials of metal for railway tracks; non-electric cables and wires of common metal; ironmongery, small items of metal hardware; pipes and tubes of metal; safes; goods of common metal not included in other classes; ores.
Class 7. Machines and machine tools; motors and engines (except for land vehicles); machine coupling and transmission components (except for land vehicles); agricultural implements other than hand-operated; incubators for eggs.
Class 8. Hand tools and implements (hand-operated); cutlery; side arms; razors.
Class 9. Scientific, nautical, surveying, electric, photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signaling, checking (supervision), life-saving, and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus for recording, transmission, or reproduction of sound or images; magnetic data carriers, recording discs; automatic vending machines and mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating machines, data processing equipment and computers; fire-extinguishing apparatus.
Class 10. Surgical, medical, dental, and veterinary apparatus and instruments, artificial limbs, eyes and teeth; orthopedic articles; suture materials
Class 11. Apparatus for lighting, heating, steam generating, cooking, refrigerating, drying ventilating, water supply, and sanitary purposes
Class 12. Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air, or water
Class 13. Firearms; ammunition and projectiles; explosives; fireworks
Class 14. Precious metals and their alloys and goods in precious metals or coated therewith, not included in other classes; jewelry, precious stones; horological and other chronometric instruments
Class 15. Musical instruments
Class 16. Paper, cardboard, and goods made from these materials, not included in other classes; printed matter; bookbinding material; photographs; stationery; adhesives for stationery or household purposes; artists’ materials; paintbrushes; typewriters and office requisites (except furniture); instructional and teaching material (except apparatus); plastic materials for packaging (not included in other classes); playing cards; printers’ type; printing blocks
Class 17. Rubber, gutta-percha, gum, asbestos, mica, and goods made from these materials and not included in other classes; plastics in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping, and insulating materials; flexible pipes, not of metal
Class 18. Leather and imitations of leather, and goods made of these materials and not included in other classes; animal skins, hides, trunks, and traveling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness, and saddlery
Class 19. Building materials, (non-metallic), non-metallic rigid pipes for building; asphalt, pitch and bitumen; non-metallic transportable buildings; monuments, not of metal.
Class 20. Furniture, mirrors, picture frames; goods(not included in other classes) of wood, cork, reed, cane, wicker, horn, bone, ivory, whalebone, shell, amber, mother-of-pearl, meerschaum and substitutes for all these materials, or of plastics
Class 21. Household or kitchen utensils and containers(not of precious metal or coated therewith); combs and sponges; brushes(except paints brushes); brush-making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; steelwool; unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building); glassware, porcelain, and earthenware not included in other classes
Class 22. Ropes, string, nets, tents, awnings, tarpaulins, sails, sacks, and bags (not included in other classes) padding and stuffing materials(except for rubber or plastics); raw fibrous textile materials
Class 23. Yarns and threads, for textile use
Class 24. Textiles and textile goods, not included in other classes; bed and table covers.
Class 25. Clothing, footwear, headgear
Class 26. Lace and embroidery, ribbons and braid; buttons, hooks and eyes, pins and needles; artificial flowers
Class 27. Carpets, rugs, mats and matting, linoleum, and other materials for covering existing floors; wall hangings(non-textile)
Class 28. Games and playthings, gymnastic and sporting articles not included in other classes; decorations for Christmas trees
Class 29. Meat, fish, poultry, and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried, and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, fruit sauces; eggs, milk, and milk products; edible oils and fats
Class 30. Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, artificial coffee; flour and preparations made from cereals, bread, pastry and confectionery, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking powder; salt, mustard; vinegar, sauces, (condiments); spices; ice
Class 31. Agricultural, horticultural, and forestry products and grains not included in other classes; live animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds, natural plants, and flowers; foodstuffs for animals, malt
Class 32. Beers, mineral and aerated waters, and other non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages
Class 33. Alcoholic beverages(except beers)
Class 34. Tobacco, smokers’ articles, matches
SERVICES
Class 35. Advertising, business management, business administration, office functions.
Class 36. Insurance, financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs.
Class 37. Building construction; repair; installation services.
Class 38. Telecommunications.
Class 39. Transport; packaging and storage of goods; travel arrangement.
Class 40. Treatment of materials.
Class 41. Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities.
Class 42. Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software.
Class 43. Services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation.
Class 44. Medical services, veterinary services, hygienic and beauty care for human beings or animals; agriculture, horticulture, and forestry services.
Class 45. Legal services; security services for the protection of property and individuals; personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals.
Resetting the EKYC pin is a very easy process. EKYC Pin is a six-digit number associated with your Digital Signature KYC account. This pin is required to complete Esign OTP verification. During the Esign process, you need to enter this Ekyc pin along with the OTP to complete the verification.
In case you forget this pin, you can not complete the Esign verification. You need to reset the pin and then you can complete the verification process. But should be noted that, if your KYC account is approved, only you can reset it. Else you need to completely remove or delete your existing verification/application number and then restart the verification process with a new KYC pin.
Below is the website link for resetting your Ekyc pin for Emudhra & Vsign Digital Signature. If you want to generate the same for other certifying authorities, comment to us. So we will add the links for you.
A Digital Signature is an electronic signing media that proves the authenticity of the user. So it is important to choose the right digital signature. You will find different types of digital signatures in the market. But you should choose one as per your need only. Below is the list of digital signatures available in India and their application.
Out of above mentioned 6 types of digital signing certificates, Class 1 and Class 2 are not used anymore. They are discontinued on 01-Jan-2021. So actually, we have 4 types of certificates to choose from. Refer to the below table to know the use of each digital signature.
DGFT Portal for Import Export transactions. So only use for it, only IEC ready applicants apply for it.
Document Signer
Used for bulk document signing like emails, Invoices, etc. Generally, It is installed on a server for auto signing.
Foreigner Digital Signature
Foreign individuals and organizations use this. Like company formation, tax filling, etc. Because they are not eligible for normal DSC.
Class 3 Digital Signature
Income Tax Filing, Company Registration, Annual Compliances, PF submission, online tender and auctions, Icegate portal, Trademark and patent registration, GST filling, Logo registration, etc.
Availability of Digital Signatures
Due to high application, class 3 DSC is the most popular one. Therefore we recommend buying Class 3 DSC for multipurpose applications. But The good news is that all above mentioned digital signatures are listed on Apicountry. You can apply for the required certificate, complete your verification and download it. It will be prepared in 15 minutes only. So get your digital signature now.
A working USB Token can be used to sign a PDF document easily. There should be an active digital signature present inside the token to sign the pdf. We need to install the acrobat signing component on our local computer.
To sign any pdf document, open your pdf document in acrobat reader. Click ‘Tools’ on the menu bar, and select the certificate option. Now a Certificate menu bar will appear just below the menu bar. You need to click on the ‘Digitally Sign’ option. Now your mouse cursor will change to select any portion of the opened pdf document. Please select the portion where you want to display your signature. Once you select the portion, acrobat will display available signatures to select from. Now you need to select your signature and save the digitally signed pdf document. Once saved, you can use that signed document as many times as you wish.
The detailed process is described in the below video tutorial. Watch it to learn and understand the signing process of any pdf document using a valid USB token containing a digital signature.
Video Tutorial on using USB token to sign a pdf document.
Conclusion
You can use any USB token with a valid digital signature for pdf signing purposes. The popularly used tokens are Proxkey Watchdata, ePass2003Auto Tokens, etc. You can purchase one for yourself and get a new digital signature. Buy a Class 3 digital signature which is used for multiple purposes.
3 Year-valid digital signature option has not been available since 05-MAR-2021. Except for Emudhra, all other Certifying Authorities(CAs) disabled the option to apply 3year validity DSC. Although Emudhra issued 3 year DSC, it is not giving an exact three-year valid certificate. But why so happening? What is the reason behind stopping the issuance of only 3-year valid certificates? ?♀️
Before we understand the reason behind this, we must know who actually issues the certificates. In India, Government empowers The Office of Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) to issue digital signature certificates. CCA is the supreme authority and controls all CAs. Although CCA can directly issue a certificate, it generally does not. Rather it provides authority to CAs who issue certificates on behalf of the CCA. ?
Due to CAs derive power from CCA, they must act according to the rules and regulations of later. Whatever binds on CCA, the same lies on CAs. The Government of India, generally, gives 5-year license validity to CCAs and thus the CAs should operate within this time frame. At present, the CCA license validity will expire on 5th March 2024. Therefore no CAs can issue a certificate beyond that period. This is the reason why most all CAs suspended the issuance of 3year valid certificates. However, Emudhra issued a 3year certificate with an expiry date of 5th March 2024 only.
Again, this is not going to stay like this forever. Indian Government soon renew the CCA license validity for another 5 years soon. Once it is renewed, CAs again continue to issue 3year valid certificates.?
Class 2 and Class 3 Digital Signature are widely used variants of DSC. It is very confusing for new users whether to get a Class 2 or Class 3 certificate. The reason is obvious the price differentiation. While Class 2 is available at a relatively cheaper price earlier, now the price of both is exactly the same. However, we will discuss the uses of both certificates in this article. It helps you to decide what to choose for your use✌.
CCA department has distinguished between class 2 and class 3 digital signature uses. According to it, there are limitations in the use and acceptance of these certificates. The class represents the level of security it holds and the authority level it contains. For general understanding, we have listed the differences in the following table.
Class 2 Digital Signature
It is the second level of certificate and without critical security configuration.
It is used for all general-purpose signing.
IT return filing, GST filing, Company registration, Trademark registration, ROC filing, Contractor tender, IRCTC, and EPF use is some major use of this certificate.
It is cheaper compared to Class 3 DSC.
A class 2 certificate can not be used in place of a class 3 certificate.
Note: Class 2 DSC is discontinued now. You need to use Class 3 DSC in place of Class 2.
Class 3 Digital Signature
It is the highest level of certificate and comes with a higher security configuration.
It is mostly used for E-tender and E-auction purposes. Some categories of Trademark and Patent registration are also needed in class 3 DSC for submitting an application.
One can use it in all places where Class 2 DSC is accepted.
