IDRBT obtains license to act as Certifying Authority

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an autonomous body set up by the Reserve Bank of India, is now a Certifying Authority (CA), licensed by the Controller of Certification Authority (CCA), Government of India. The formal approval as Certifying Authority was handed over to Dr. V.P. Gulati, Director, IDRBT, by Dr. K.N. Gupta, CCA, on August 8, 2002, at an impressive function organised at Mumbai.

This license confirms that IDRBT has attained excellent standards in its overall key management, systems and operations. Significantly, it asserts IDRBT CA's certificate policies and practices to be of high standards, which is critical in its role as a Certifying Authority. As a Certification Authority, IDRBT’s role entails registration, issuance, renewal, suspension and revocation of digital certificates to applicants. It also necessitates careful verification of the applicants' identity.

With the Digital Certificates issued by IDRBT Banks and Financial Institutions can now look forward to have  full-fledged security in their electronic communications, intra-bank and inter-bank applications and messaging which will go a long way in facilitating speedy, secure and cost-effective financial transactions to improve customer service and satisfaction.  The Digital Certificates issued by IDRBT comply with the X.509 Standards to individuals and servers in and it will fulfil the need for Trusted Third Party services in Electronic Commerce. All Classes of Certificates issued by IDRBT CA shall be Digital Certificates under the IT Act, and the legal effect, conjecture and evidentiary value of Digital Certificates as provided in the IT Act will be applicable.

A number of Financial and Banking Applications such as Structured Financial Messaging Solution, Real Time Gross Settlement, Centralised Funds Management System etc., and banks’ own applications will now benefit from the Secured Messaging and Transactions using Digital Certificates and Digital Signatures.

IDRBT has set up a high-end, state-of-the-art processing Center at its campus at Hyderabad, capable of issuing any number of Digital Certificates, an important component of Public Key Infrastructure.