INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES )RULES, 2000

Year : 2000

17th October, 2000

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules regulating the application and other guidelines for Certifying Authorities, namely:-

Section -1 Short title and commencement

(1) These Rules may be called Information Technology (Certifying Authorities) Rules, 2000.

(2)They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Section -2 Definitions.

In these Rules, unless the context otherwise require

(a) Act means the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000)

(b) Applicant means Certifying Authority applicant;

(c) Auditor means any internationally accredited computer security professional or agency appointed by the Certifying Authority and recognized by the Controller for conducting technical audit of operation of Certifying Authority;

(d) Controller means Controller of Certifying Authorities appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 17 of the Act;

(e) Digital Signature Certificate means Digital Signature Certificate issued under sub-section (4) of section 35 of the Act;

(f) Information asset means all information resources utilized in the course of any organisation’s business and includes all information, applications (software developed or purchased), and technology (hardware, system software and networks)

(g) Licence means a licence granted to Certifying Authorities for the issue of Digital Signature Certificates under these rules;
 
(h) Licensed Certifying Authority means Certifying Authority who has been granted a licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates;

(i) Person shall include an individual; or a company or association or body of individuals; whether incorporated or not; or Central Government or a State Government or any of the Ministries or Departments, Agencies or Authorities of such Governments;

(j) Schedule means a schedule annexed to these rules;

(k) Subscriber identity verification method means the method used to verify and authenticate the identity of a subscriber;

(l) Trusted person means any person who has:–

i. Direct responsibilities for the day-to-day operations, security and performance of those business activities that are regulated under the Act or these Rules in respect of a Certifying Authority; or

ii. Duties directly involving the issuance, renewal, suspension, revocation of Digital Signature Certificates (including the identification of any person requesting a Digital Signature Certificate from a licensed Certifying Authority), creation of private keys or administration of a Certifying Authority$s computing facilities.

(m) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in Schedule-IV shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in that schedule.

Section -3 The manner in which information be authenticated by means of Digital Signature.

A Digital Signature shall

(a) Be created and verified by cryptography that concerns itself with transforming electronic record into seemingly unintelligible forms and back again

(b) Use what is known as Public Key Cryptography, which employs an algorithm using two different but mathematical related keys – one for creating a Digital Signature or transforming data into a seemingly unintelligible form, and another key for verifying a Digital Signature or returning the electronic record to original form,the process termed as hash function shall be used in both creating and verifying a Digital Signature.
 
Explanation: Computer equipment and software utilizing two such keys are often termed as asymmetric cryptography.

Section -4 Creation of Digital Signature.

To sign an electronic record or any other item of information, the signer shall first apply the hash function in the signer’s software; the hash function shall compute a hash result of standard length which is unique (for all practical purposes) to the electronic record; the signer’s software transforming the hash result into a Digital Signature using signer’s private key; the resulting Digital Signature shall be unique to both electronic record and private key used to create it; and the Digital Signature shall be attached to its electronic record and stored or transmitted with its electronic record.

Section -5 Verification of Digital Signature.

The verification of a Digital Signature shall be accomplished by computing a new hash result of the original electronic record by means of the hash function used to create a Digital Signature and by using the public key and the new hash result, the verifier shall check

(i) If the Digital Signature was created using the corresponding private key; and

(ii) If the newly computed hash result matches the original result which was transformed into Digital Signature during the signing process. The verification software will confirm the Digital Signature as verified if:-

(a) The signer’s private key was used to digitally sign the electronic record, which is known to be the case if the signer’s public key was used to verify the signature because the signer’s public key will verify only a Digital Signature created with the signer’s private key; and

(b) The electronic record was unaltered, which is known to be the case if the hash result computed by the verifier is identical to the hash result extracted from the Digital Signature during the verification process.

Section -6 Standards.

The Information Technology (IT) architecture for Certifying Authorities may support open standards and accepted de facto standards; the most important standards that may be considered for different activities associated with the Certifying Authority’s functions are as under:

The product The standard

Public Key Infrastructure PKIX

Digital Signature Certificates and Digital Signature revocation list X.509. version 3 certificates as specified in ITU RFC 1422
Directory (DAP and LDAP) X500 for publication of certificates and Certification Revocation Lists (CRLs)

Database Management Operations Use of generic SQL
 
Public Key algorithm DSA and RSA

Digital Hash Function MD5 and SHA-1

RSA Public Key Technology PKCS

1 RSA Encryption Standard (512, 1024, 2048 bit)

PKCS 5 Password Based Encryption Standard

PKCS 7 Cryptographic Message Syntax standard

PKCS 8 Private Key Information Syntax standard

PKCS 9 Selected Attribute Types

PKCS 10 RSA Certification Request

PKCS 12 Portable format for storing/transporting a user’s private keys and certificates 

Distinguished name X.

520 Digital Encryption and Digital Signature PKCS 7

Digital Signature Request Format PKCS 10

Section -7  Digital Signature Certificate Standard.

All Digital Signature Certificates issued by the Certifying Authorities shall conform to ITU X.509 version 3 standard as per rule 6 and shall inter alia contain the following data, namely

(a) Serial Number (assigning of serial number to the Digital Signature Certificate by Certifying Authority to distinguish it from other certificate)

(b) Signature Algorithm Identifier (which identifies the algorithm used by Certifying Authority to sign the Digital Signature Certificate)

(c) Issuer Name (name of the Certifying Authority who issued the Digital Signature Certificate)

(d) Validity period of the Digital Signature Certificate

(e) Name of the subscriber (whose public key the Certificate identifies); and

(f) Public Key information of the subscriber.

Section -8 Licensing of Certifying Authorities

(1) The following persons may apply for grant of a licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates, namely :-

(a) An individual, being a citizen of India and having a capital of five crores of rupees or more in his business or profession b.a company having-

(i) Paid up capital of not less than five crores of rupees; and

(ii) Net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees:

Provided that no company in which the equity share capital held in aggregate by the Non-resident Indians, Foreign Institutional Investors, or foreign companies, exceeds forty-nine per cent of its capital, shall be eligible for grant of licence:

Provided further that in a case where the company has been registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) during the preceding financial year or in the financial year during which it applies for grant of licence under the Act and whose main object is to act as Certifying Authority, the net worth referred to in sub-clause (ii) of this clause shall be the aggregate net worth of its majority shareholders holding at least 51 of paid equity capital, being the Hindu Undivided Family, firm or company:

Provided also that the majority shareholders referred to in the second proviso shall not include Non-resident Indian, foreign national, Foreign Institutional Investor and foreign company:

Provided also that the majority shareholders of a company referred to in the second proviso whose net worth has been determined on the basis of such majority shareholders, shall not sell or transfer its equity shares held in such company-

(i) Unless such a company acquires or has its own net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees;

(ii) Without prior approval of the Controller;

(c) A firm having–

i. Capital subscribed by all partners of not less than five crores of rupees; and

ii. Net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees:

Provided that no firm, in which the capital held in aggregate by any Non-resident Indian, and foreign national, exceeds forty-nine per cent of its capital, shall be eligible for grant of licence:

Provided further that in a case where the firm has been registered under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932) during the preceding financial year or in the financial year during which it applies for grant of licence under the Act and whose main object is to act as Certifying Authority, the net worth referred to in sub-clause (ii) of this clause shall be the aggregate net worth of all of its partners:

Provided also that the partners referred to in the second proviso shall not include Non-resident Indian and foreign national:

Provided also that the partners of a firm referred to in the second proviso whose net worth has been determined on the basis of such partners, shall not sell or transfer its capital held in such firm-

(i) Unless such firm has acquired or has its own net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees;

(ii) Without prior approval of the Controller;

(d) Central Government or a State Government or any of the Ministries or Departments, Agencies or Authorities of such Governments.

Explanation.- For the purpose of this rule,-

i. Company shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause 17 of section 2 of the Income-tax Act,1961 (43 of 1961)

ii. Firm, partner and partnership shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932); but the expression partner shall also include any person who, being a minor has been admitted to the benefits of partnership;

iii. Foreign company shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (23A) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act,1961 (43 of 1961)

iv. Net worth shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (ga) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (1 of 1986)

v. Non-resident shall have the meaning assigned to it as in clause 26 of section 2 of the Income-tax Act,1961 (43 of 1961)
(2) The applicant being an individual, or a company, or a firm under sub-rule (1), shall submit a performance bond or furnish a banker’s guarantee from a scheduled bank in favour of the Controller in such form and in such manner as may be approved by the Controller for an amount of not less than five crores of rupees and the performance bond or banker’s guarantee shall remain valid for a period of six years from the date of its submission:

Provided that the company and firm referred to in the second proviso to clause (b) and the second proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (1) shall submit a performance bond or furnish a banker’s guarantee for ten crores of rupees:

Provided further that nothing in the first proviso shall apply to the company or firm after it has acquired or has its net worth of fifty crores of rupees.

(3) Without prejudice to any penalty which may be imposed or prosecution may be initiated for any offence under the Act or any other law for the time being in force, the performance bond or banker’s guarantee may be invoked –

(f) When the Controller has suspended the licence under sub-section (2) of section 25 of the Act; or

(g) For payment of an offer of compensation made by the Controller; or

(h) For payment of liabilities and rectification costs attributed to the negligence of the Certifying Authority, its officers or employees; or

(i) For payment of the costs incurred in the discontinuation or transfer of operations of the licensed Certifying Authority, if the Certifying Authority$s licence or operations is discontinued; or

(j) Any other default made by the Certifying Authority in complying with the provisions of the Act or rules made thereunder.

Explanation.- transfer of operation shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (47) of section 2 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).

Section -9 Location of the Facilities.

The infrastructure associated with all functions of generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate as well as maintenance of Directories containing information about the status, and validity of Digital Signature Certificate shall be installed at any location in India.

Section -10 Submission of Application.

Every application for a licensed Certifying Authority shall be made to the Controller,-

i. In the form given at Schedule-I; and

ii. In such manner as the Controller may, from time to time, determine,supported by such documents and information as the Controller may require and it shall inter alia include-

(a) A Certification Practice Statement (CPS)

(b) A statement including the procedures with respect to identification of the applicant;

(C) Statement for the purpose and scope of anticipated Digital Signature Certificate technology, management, or operations to be outsourced;

(d) Certified copies of the business registration documents of Certifying Authority that intends to be licensed;

(e) A description of any event, particularly current or past insolvency, that could materially affect the applicant$s ability to act as a Certifying Authority;

(f) An undertaking by the applicant that to its best knowledge and belief it can and will comply with the requirements of its Certification Practice Statement;

(g) An undertaking that the Certifying Authority’s operation would not commence until its operation and facilities associated with the functions of generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate are audited by the auditors and approved by the Controller in accordance with rule 20;

(h) An undertaking to submit a performance bond or banker’s guarantee in accordance with sub-rule (2) of rule 8 within one month of Controller indicating his approval for the grant of licence to operate as a Certifying Authority;

(i) Any other information required by the Controller.

Section -12 Fee.

(1) The application for the grant of a licence shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of twenty-five thousand rupees payable by a bank draft or by a pay order drawn in the name of the Controller.

(2) The application submitted to the Controller for renewal of Certifying Authority’s licence shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of five thousand rupees payable by a bank draft or by a pay order drawn in the name of the Controller.

(3) Fee or any part thereof shall not be refunded if the licence is suspended or revoked during its validity period.

Section -13 Cross Certification.

(1) The licensed Certifying Authority shall have arrangement for cross certification with other licensed Certifying Authorities within India which shall be submitted to the Controller before the commencement of their operations as per rule 20:

Provided that any dispute arising as a result of any such arrangement between the Certifying Authorities; or between Certifying Authorities or Certifying Authority and the Subscriber, shall be referred to the Controller for arbitration or resolution.

(2) The arrangement for Cross Certification by the licensed Certifying Authority with a Foreign Certifying Authority along with the application, shall be submitted to the Controller in such form and in such manner as may be provided in the regulations made by the Controller; and the licensed Certifying Authority shall not commence cross certification operations unless it has obtained the written or digital signature approval from the Controller.

Section -14 Validity of licence.

(1) A licence shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of its issue.

(2) The licence shall not be transferable.

Section -15 Suspension of Licence.

(1) The Controller may by order suspend the licence in accordance with the provisions contained in sub-section (2) of section 25 of the Act.

(2) The licence granted to the persons referred to in clauses (a) to (c) of sub-rule (1) of rule 8 shall stand suspended when the performance bond submitted or the banker’s guarantee furnished by such persons is invoked under sub-rule (2) of that rule.

#[3Section -16 Renewal of licence.

(1) The provisions of rule 8 to rule 13, shall apply in the case of an application for renewal of a licence as it applies to a fresh application for licensed Certifying Authority.

(2) A Certifying Authority shall submit an application for the renewal of its licence not less than forty-five days before the date of expiry of the period of validity of licence.

(3) The application for renewal of licence may be submitted in the form of electronic record subject to such requirements as the Controller may deem fit.

Section -17 Issuance of Licence.

(1) The Controller may, within four weeks from the date of receipt of the application, after considering the documents accompanying the application and such other factors, as he may deem fit, grant or renew the licence or reject the application:

Provided that in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing, the period of four weeks may be extended to such period, not exceeding eight weeks in all as the Controller may deem fit.

(2) If the application for licensed Certifying Authority is approved, the applicant shall -

(a) Submit a performance bond or furnish a banker’s guarantee within one month from the date of such approval to the Controller in accordance with sub-rule (2) of rule 8; and

(b) Execute an agreement with the Controller binding himself to comply with the terms and conditions of the licence and the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder.

Section -18 Refusal of Licence.

The Controller may refuse to grant or renew a licence if-

i. The applicant has not provided the Controller with such information relating to its business, and to any circumstances likely to affect its method of conducting business, as the Controller may require; or

ii. The applicant is in the course of being wound up or liquidated; or

iii. A receiver has, or a receiver and manager have, been appointed by the court in respect of the applicant; or

iv. The applicant or any trusted person has been convicted, whether in India or out of India, of an offence the conviction for which involved a finding that it or such trusted person acted fraudulently or dishonestly, or has been convicted of an offence under the Act or these rules; or
 
v. The Controller has invoked performance bond or banker’s guarantee; or

vi. A Certifying Authority commits breach of, or fails to observe and comply with, the procedures and practices as per the Certification Practice Statement; or

vii. A Certifying Authority fails to conduct, or does not submit, the returns of the audit in accordance with rule 31; or

viii. The audit report recommends that the Certifying Authority is not worthy of continuing Certifying Authority’s operation; or

ix. A Certifying Authority fails to comply with the directions of the Controller.

Section -19 Governing Laws.

The Certification Practice Statement of the Certifying Authority shall comply with, and be governed by, the laws of the country.

Section -20 Security Guidelines for Certifying Authorities.

(1) The Certifying Authorities shall have the sole responsibility of integrity, confidentiality and protection of information and information assets employed in its operation, considering classification, declassification, labeling, storage, access and destruction of information assets according to their value, sensitivity and importance of operation.

(2) Information Technology Security Guidelines and Security Guidelines for Certifying Authorities aimed at protecting the integrity, confidentiality and availability of service of Certifying Authority are given in-

(i) The Certifying Authority shall formulate its Information Technology and Security Policy for operation complying with these guidelines and submit it to the Controller before commencement of operation:

(ii) Provided that any change made by the Certifying Authority in the Information Technology and Security Policy shall be submitted by it within two weeks to the Controller.

Section -21 Commencement of Operation by Licensed Certifying Authorities.

The licensed Certifying Authority shall commence its commercial operation of generation and issue of Digital Signature only after-

(a) It has confirmed to the Controller the adoption of Certification Practice Statement;

(b) It has generated its key pair, namely, private and corresponding public key, and submitted the public key to the Controller;

(a) The installed facilities and infrastructure associated with all functions of generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate have been audited by the accredited auditor in accordance with the provisions of rule 31; and

(b) It has submitted the arrangement for cross certification with other licensed Certifying Authorities within India to the Controller.

Section -22 Requirements Prior to Cessation as Certifying Authority.

Before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority, a Certifying Authority shall,-

(a) Give notice to the Controller of its intention to cease acting as a Certifying Authority:

Provided that the notice shall be made ninety days before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority or ninety days before the date of expiry of licence;

(b) Advertise sixty days before the expiry of licence or ceasing to act as Certifying Authority, as the case may be, the intention in such daily newspaper or newspapers and in such manner as the Controller may determine;

(c) Notify its intention to cease acting as a Certifying Authority to the subscriber and Cross Certifying Authority of each unrevoked or unexpired Digital Signature Certificate issued by it :

Provided that the notice shall be given sixty days before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority or sixty days before the date of expiry of unrevoked or unexpired Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be;

(d) The notice shall be sent to the Controller, affected subscribers and Cross Certifying Authorities by digitally signed e-mail and registered post;

(e) Revoke all Digital Signature Certificates that remain unrevoked or unexpired at the end of the ninety days notice period, whether or not the subscribers have requested revocation;
 
(f) Make a reasonable effort to ensure that discontinuing its certification services causes minimal disruption to its subscribers and to persons duly needing to verify digital signatures by reference to the public keys contained in outstanding Digital Signature Certificates;

(g) Make reasonable arrangements for preserving the records for a period of seven years;

(h) Pay reasonable restitution (not exceeding the cost involved in obtaining the new Digital Signature Certificate) to subscribers for revoking the Digital Signature Certificates before the date of expiry;

(i) After the date of expiry mentioned in the licence, the Certifying Authority shall destroy the certificate–signing private key and confirm the date and time of destruction of the private key to the Controller.

Section -23 Database of Certifying Authorities.

The Controller shall maintain a database of the disclosure record of every Certifying Authority, Cross Certifying Authority and Foreign Certifying Authority, containing inter alia the following details:

(a) The name of the person/names of the Directors, nature of business, Income-tax Permanent Account Number, web address, if any, office and residential address, location of facilities associated with functions of generation of Digital Signature Certificate, voice and facsimile telephone numbers, electronic mail address(es), administrative contacts and authorized representatives;

(b) The public key(s), corresponding to the private key(s) used by the Certifying Authority and recognized foreign Certifying Authority to digitally sign Digital Signature Certificate;

(c) Current and past versions of Certification Practice Statement of Certifying Authority;

(d) Time stamps indicating the date and time of -

i. Grant of licence;

ii. Confirmation of adoption of Certification Practice Statement and its earlier versions by Certifying Authority;

iii. Commencement of commercial operations of generation and issue of Digital Signature Certificate by the Certifying Authority;

iv. Revocation or suspension of licence of Certifying Authority;

v. Commencement of operation of Cross Certifying Authority;

vi. Issue of recognition of foreign Certifying Authority;

vii. Revocation or suspension of recognition of foreign Certifying Authority.

Section -24 Digital Signature Certificate.

The Certifying Authority shall, for issuing the Digital Signature Certificates, while complying with the provisions of section 35 of the Act, also comply with the following, namely:-

(a) The Digital Signature Certificate shall be issued only after a Digital Signature Certificate application in the form provided by the Certifying Authority has been submitted by the subscriber to the Certifying Authority and the same has been approved by it:

Provided that the application Form contains, inter alia, the particulars given in the modal Form given in Schedule-IV;

(b) No interim Digital Signature Certificate shall be issued;

(c) The Digital Signature Certificate shall be generated by the Certifying Authority upon receipt of an authorised and validated request for:-

(i) New Digital Signature Certificates;

(ii) Digital Signature Certificates renewal;

(d) The Digital Signature Certificate must contain or incorporate, by reference such information, as is sufficient to locate or identify one or more repositories in which revocation or suspension of the Digital Signature Certificate will be listed, if the Digital Signature Certificate is suspended or revoked;

(e) The subscriber identity verification method employed for issuance of Digital Signature Certificate shall be specified in the Certification Practice Statement and shall be subject to the approval of the Controller during the application for a licence;-

(a) Where the Digital Signature Certificate is issued to a person (referred to in this clause as a New Digital Signature Certificate) on the basis of another valid Digital Signature Certificate held by the said person (referred in this clause as an Originating Digital Signature Certificate) and subsequently the originating Digital Signature Certificate has been suspended or revoked, the Certifying Authority that issued the new Digital Signature Certificate shall conduct investigations to determine whether it is necessary to suspend or revoke the new Digital Signature Certificate;

(b) The Certifying Authority shall provide a reasonable opportunity for the subscriber to verify the contents of the Digital Signature Certificate before it is accepted;

(c) If the subscriber accepts the issued Digital Signature Certificate, the Certifying Authority shall publish a signed copy of the Digital Signature Certificate in a repository;

(d) Where the Digital Signature Certificate has been issued by the licensed Certifying Authority and accepted by the subscriber, and the Certifying Authority comes to know of any fact, or otherwise, that affects the validity or reliability of such Digital Signature Certificate, it shall notify the same to the subscriber immediately;

(e) All Digital Signature Certificates shall be issued with a designated expiry date.

Section -25 Generation of Digital Signature Certificate.

The generation of the Digital Signature Certificate shall involve: receipt of an approved and verified Digital Signature Certificate request; creating a new Digital Signature Certificate; binding the key pair associated with the Digital Signature Certificate to a Digital Signature Certificate owner; issuing the Digital Signature Certificate and the associated public key for operational use; a distinguished name associated with the Digital Signature Certificate owner; and a recognized and relevant policy as defined in Certification Practice Statement.

Section -26 Issue of Digital Signature Certificate.

Before the issue of the Digital Signature Certificate, the Certifying Authority shall:-

i. Confirm that the user’s name does not appear in its list of compromised users;

ii. Comply with the procedure as defined in his Certification Practice Statement including verification of identification and/or employment;
 
iii. Comply with all privacy requirements;

iv. Obtain a consent of the person requesting the Digital Signature Certificate, that the details of such Digital Signature Certificate can be published on a directory service.

26 A Certificate Lifetime.

A Digital Signature Certificate,- shall be issued with a designated expiry date; which is suspended shall return to the operational use, if the suspension is withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of section 37 of the Act; shall expire automatically upon reaching the designated expiry date at which time the

(1) Digital Signature Certificate shall be archived; on expiry, shall not be re-used.

(2) The period for which a Digital Signature Certificate has been issued shall not be extended, but a new Digital Signature Certificate may be issued after the expiry of such period.

Section -27 Archival of Digital Signature Certificate.

A Certifying Authority shall archive -

(a) Applications for issue of Digital Signature Certificates;

(b) Registration and verification documents of generated Digital Signature Certificates;

(c) Digital Signature Certificates;

(d) Notices of suspension;

(e) Information of suspended Digital Signature Certificates;

(f) Information of revoked Digital Signature Certificates;

(g) Expired Digital Signature Certificates, for a minimum period of seven years or for a period in accordance with legal requirement.

Section -28 Compromise of Digital Signature Certificate.

Digital Signature Certificates in operational use that become compromised shall be revoked in accordance with the procedure defined in the Certification Practice Statement of Certifying Authority.

Explanation:- Digital Signature Certificates shall,-

(a) Be deemed to be compromised where the integrity of:-

(i) The private key associated with the Digital Signature Certificate is in doubt;

(ii) The Digital Signature Certificate owner is in doubt, as to the use, or attempted use of his key pairs, or otherwise, for malicious or unlawful purposes;

(b) Remain in the compromised state for only such time as it takes to arrange for revocation.

Section -29 Revocation of Digital Signature Certificate.

(1) Digital Signature Certificate shall be revoked and become invalid for any trusted use, where -

(a) There is a compromise of the Digital Signature Certificate owner’s private key;

(b) There is a misuse of the Digital Signature Certificate;

(c) There is a misrepresentation or errors in the Digital Signature Certificate;

(d) The Digital Signature Certificate is no longer required.

(2) The revoked Digital Signature Certificate shall be added to the Certificate Revocation List (CRL).

Section -30 Fees for issue of Digital Signature Certificate.

(1) The Certifying Authority shall charge such fee for the issue of Digital Signature Certificate as may be prescribed by the Central Government under sub-section (2) of section 35 of the Act.

(2) Fee may be payable in respect of access to Certifying Authority’s X.500 directory for certificate downloading. Where fees are payable, Certifying Authority shall provide an up-to-date fee schedule to all its subscribers and users, this may be done by publishing fee schedule on a nominated website.

(3) Fees may be payable in respect of access to Certifying Authority’s X.500 directory service for certificate revocation or status information. Where fees are payable, Certifying Authority shall provide an up-to-date fee schedule to all its subscribers and users, this may be done by publishing the fee schedule on a nominated website.

(4) No fee is to be levied for access to Certification Practice Statement via Internet. A fee may be charged by the Certifying Authority for providing printed copies of its Certification Practice Statement.

Section -31 Audit.

(1) The Certifying Authority shall get its operations audited annually by an auditor and such audit shall include inter alia,-

i. Security policy and planning;
 
ii. Physical security;

iii. Technology evaluation;

iv. Certifying Authority’s services administration;

v. Relevant Certification Practice Statement;

vi. Compliance to relevant Certification Practice Statement;

vii. Contracts/agreements;

viii. Regulations prescribed by the Controller;

ix. Policy requirements of Certifying Authorities Rules, 2000.

(2) The Certifying Authority shall conduct,-

(a) Half yearly audit of the Security Policy, physical security and planning of its operation;

(b) A quarterly audit of its repository.

(3) The Certifying Authority shall submit copy of each audit report to the Controller within four weeks of the completion of such audit and where irregularities are found, the Certifying Authority shall take immediate appropriate action to remove such irregularities.

Section -32 Auditor’s relationship with Certifying Authority.

(1) The auditor shall be independent of the Certifying Authority being audited and shall not be a software or hardware vendor which is, or has been providing services or supplying equipment to the said Certifying Authority.

(2) The auditor and the Certifying Authority shall not have any current or planned financial, legal or other relationship, other than that of an auditor and the audited party.

Section -33 Confidential Information.

The following information shall be confidential namely:-

(a) Digital Signature Certificate application, whether approved or rejected;

(b) Digital Signature Certificate information collected from the subscriber or elsewhere as part of the registration and verification record but not included in the Digital Signature Certificate information;

(c) Subscriber agreement.

Section -34 Access to Confidential Information.

(1) Access to confidential information by Certifying Authority’s operational staff shall be on a need-to-know and need-to-use basis.
 
(2) Paper based records, documentation and backup data containing all confidential information as prescribed in rule 33 shall be kept in secure and locked container or filing system, separately from all other records.

(3) The confidential information shall not be taken out of the country except in a case where a properly constitutional warrant or other legally enforceable document is produced to the Controller and he permits to do so.