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eMudhra says yours truly, digital signature style

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Supriya Rai
New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA: Can you believe that an Indian certifying organization is the certifying authority for digital signatures used in online banking transactions in Mauritius, duly approved by their government?

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It is true. The company is eMudhra, a Bangalore-based group and the first one such from India to issue digital signature certificates to a foreign country. Also, it is one among the seven certifying organizations, besides Encore, IDRBT, MTNL, NIC, TCS and Sify, and just one of the three private ones in the country.

Set up in 2008, it was conceived to be an innovative organization, says eMudhra Consumer Services executive director and chief executive officer Kalaivani Chittaranjan. In its brief journey so far, it has issued around 5 lakh digital signature certificates in India. It is authorized by the Controller of Certifying Authorities and the Ministry of Information Technology to issue Digital Signature Certificates in India.

"We are also working with the government in income tax e-filing for individuals through our online portal, TaxSmile.com. Also, we ventured into PAN card processing through our online portal a couple of weeks ago and have the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval for authenticating mobile wallet transactions," informs Chittaranjan, who manages the digital signature business, PKI-based security solutions on Web and mobile and other do-it-yourself applications of eMudhra.

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Now, it has also joined hands with the Commercial Taxes department of Kerala and has issued digital signatures to 1 lakh dealers.

Chittaranjan says that the very purpose of digital signature is to remove paper-based transactions and the challenges it faces include growing population and with that, the need to manage humongous data. "Unlike One-Time Password (OTP), which takes about 60 seconds to generate a random password that could also go to wrong hands, digital signatures are highly secure. According to the IT Act, one can't deny later, after signing digitally," she adds.

When eMudhra entered the business four years ago, awareness on digital signatures wasn't that great, concedes Chittaranjan, but she is confident that it would grow soon, as it is well-tested across the globe for securing electronic transactions.

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TaxSmile, one of the flagship products of eMudhra, is an eRI (eReturn Intermediary) authorized by the Income Tax Department, helps consumers to manage their income tax-related needs without disclosing their personal and financial data to anyone. Now, says Chittaranjan, taxpayers can use TaxSmile for their complete tax management needs, be it for paying taxes, planning their investment, preparing and e-filing their tax returns and getting their refund faster.

"Our suite of products such as DSC, Taxsmile, MyMoney, MyLoan, MyInsurance, MyAddress, eM-Pay and SecMsg are dynamic, flexible and intuitive and intend to provide hassle-free services to consumers," explains Chittraranjan, adding, "eMudhra's consumer offerings include MyMoney, MyLoan, MyInsurance, MyAddress, eM-Pay and SecMsg, besides eMudhra Digital Signature Certificates and other PKI-based solutions."

Its other current consumer offerings are its mobile retail wallet app, YpayCash, secure key for online banking, SWYS (Sign What You See) Key. YpayCash is a patent-pending mobile wallet that helps consumers avoid handling cash and make retail payment through a few clicks on their mobile. SecMsg is a patented Mobile Messaging Application helps consumers secure their private data and SMS. In addition, eMudhra's Trust Factor is positioned to help consumer and government organizations to secure their online portals.

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With over 200 professional team members, eMudhra has also developed a number of PKI solutions for the BFSI and government agencies.

On the biometric authentication used by the Unique Identification Authority of India for issuing Aadhaar cards, Chittaranjan said that it could not be 100 per cent fool-proof and that it necessitates a person to be present physically to get authenticated. "Moreover, one can't be sure that physical attributes will remain the same over a period of time. It can't be the very existence of a person, but can help validate someone's identification credentials. ID verification needs a fool-proof mechanism," she concludes.

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