Issue of Digital Signature Certificate - Central Excise - 24/2006

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER, CENTRAL EXCISE, JAIPUR-I NCR Building, Statue Circle, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302005 Trade Notice No. 24/2006 Subject: Issue of Digital Signature Certificate reg. All Central Excise and Service Tax assessees and Trade Associations are informed that CBEC has set up a facility for obtaining Digital Signature Certificates for enabling secure transactions with the department over Internet. To enable this, the Department has obtained the license to issue Digital Signature Certificates as per the Information Technology Act, 2000 to CBEC s trading community, its officers and related agencies from the Controller of Certifying Authorities, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. 2. The Departmental Certifying Authority, called iCERT, performs functions which include issuing, managing, suspending and revoking digital signature certificates to all entities that are part of the CBEC s trading community. This community includes: (a) Importers and exporters; Customs House Agents; airlines, shipping lines and their agents; (b) Custodians of imported cargo; Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT); Director General Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS); Export Promotion Councils; Banks; Reserve Bank of India; (c) Central Excise assessees; (d) Service Tax assessees. 3. Members of the trade and public are aware that the facility for undertaking electronic transactions over the Internet with the Department for the Central Excise and Service Tax assessees are already being provided and are going to be substantially expanded in the near future. 4. Consequently, for ensuring security and non-repudiation in all transactions between the department and its trading partners it would be desirable that all electronic transactions and documents filed under the ACES/ICEGATE Project with the Department are digitally signed and authenticated through the Class III Digital Signature certificates provided by iCERT Certifying Authority. 5. For this purpose, all assessees and trading partners are requested to apply and obtain Digital Certificates from the iCERT. The details of the steps involved are provided in the Annexure A [Verification procedures for Digital Signature Certificate enrolment by the Public] and Annexure B [Steps how to get a Digital Certificate]. However, the process is described in brief as under: - (a) iCERT Subscriber Registration: This activity has to be carried out at iCERT website https://www.icert.gov.in by the subscribers / members of the trade electronically only. All the registered subscribers would obtain their digital signature certificates through a link over their e-mail Ids. (b) Fee: Subscription is a one-time activity for a Certificate of 2 year validity from the date of issuance and would involve a nominal fee which has been fixed at ₹ 100. (c) Time Frames : The individual subscription process involves the following activities: (i) Web Based Form Entry: This requires the subscriber entering individual information as per the prescribed subscription form over the Internet by logging onto the iCERT website. The complete web subscription process time over the web does not take more then 15 minutes under normal conditions of Internet access. (ii) Verification Process: Thereafter, a comprehensive verification process involving the jurisdictional Central Excise verification team would take place within 10 days. (iii) Delivery Process: The Digital Signature certificates would thereafter be delivered to the subscriber over his e-mail by the iCERT team. (d) Transactions Once the subscription formalities are completed, the members of the trade would be in a position to file and receive documents electronically securely through the ACES Gateway on a round the clock basis using their digital signature certificates. (e) Seeking help Members of the trade may please note that the existing ICEGATE Help Desk facility for the trade to report problems has been expanded to include support and help to any problem pertaining to subscription, delivery and usage of the Digital Signature Certificates. The helpdesk teams are available on the following telephone numbers: 1) 011-23379020 2) 011-23379880 For any other suggestions to improve the workflow or the performace of the iCERT website, members of the trade and the officers of the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, may contact the Directorate of Systems office at (011)23378867 or send mail to [email protected] . 6. Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax assessees who obtain the Digital Signature Certificate will be able to use all the facilities available under the ACES/ICEGATE software expected to be rolled out in the later part of 2006. 7. The Trade and Industry Associations are requested to give wide publicity to the contents of this Trade Notice. Encl : As above Sd./- dtd. 01.12.2006 COMMISSIONER C.No. IV-16(36)Policy/2005/