who is a Director of a Company, a Designated Partner of an LLP, or a Professional like a Chartered Accountant or Company Secretary must register DSC on the MCA portal to file forms. If a DSC is not registered on the MCA portal, the person would not be able to file any forms. As a Director’s or Partner’s DSC is required for filing annual returns and various other documents, it’s essential to register the DSC on the MCA portal after incorporation. In this article, we look in detail at the procedure to register DSC on MCA Portal.

Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

Digital Signature Certificate or DSC is an encrypted electronic signature of a person. Digital signatures are stored in encrypted USB drivers and can be accessed only with a password. Class 3 DSC is required for filing various types of returns with the Government like annual return, income tax return, GST return, and completing other statutory filings.

Any Director Designated Partner or Professional intending to file a form on the MCA portal must first register the DSC. Registration of DSC on the MCA Portal allows MCA to know the identity of the person using a Digital Signature Certificate and prevent unauthorized use.

Note: If DSC is not registered on the MCA portal, any eForm digitally signed by you for any Company being a director, manager, secretary, or practicing professional, will not be accepted on the MCA portal once Role Check is implemented, as the system will not recognize role associated with the digital signatures affixed on the form.

Who can register the DSC on the MCA portal ?

As mentioned above, Directors, managers, and Secretary of the Company and practicing professionals, i.e., CA, CS & CWA, should register their DSC on the MCA portal if they have not registered their DSC as a business user earlier.

Note: All the directors, managers, and secretaries of the Company are not required to register DSC on the MCA portal; only those persons who will be signing the eForms on behalf of the Company are required to register their DSC on the MCA portal.

How to Register DSC on MCA V3 Portal Step

The user can follow the below-mentioned steps to register DSC on MCA V3 Portal.

• Go to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ official website to register for DSC. Click on MCA Services and select the Associate DSC option from the
  
  
  
  MCA Homepage
  
• Select the Appropriate Role of the person for whom DSC is to be registered.
  • In case of Director – Select Director to update DIN details (DIR-3/DIR-6 details are required) to register DSC.
  • Manager/Secretary/CEO/CFO– Income-tax PAN and DIN-3 Form details are required to register DSC.
  • In the case of Practicing Professional – Provide details per the records of your professional institute.
    
    
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  Professionals of ICSI/ICAI/ICWAI having registered DSCs on the MCA21 portal with PAN and DIN numbers are requested to register the DSC with a role as Practicing Professional

  • On the next screen, Enter the details requested, which should be the same as in DIN/PAN/ professional institute records.
    
    
    
    
    
  • The system will verify that the DIN/PAN is valid and approved. The system will display an error message if the DIN is filled incorrectly or DIN filled is not supported.
  • Provide all details and ensure that more information filled is in as per DIR-3. If the applicant has filed a DIR-6, fill in the details submitted in the DIR-6 form.
  • Click on the ‘Next’ button. The system would verify the details.
  • Note: If the details filled do not match with DIR-3/ DIR-6, because you do not have your DIN application details, you can get the details from the Company in which you are a director.
  • The system will prompt the user to select the DSC if the details are correct.
  • To select a digital signature certificate, download & install MCA E-Signer. You can download the MCA E-Signer from the link provided on the same screen.
    
    Note: The operating system should be Windows 10 & it should have JAVA 10 & above to install MCA E-Signer,
    
    
    
    • Insert the DSC to be registered on the MCA portal into the USB drive on your computer
    • Click on the ‘Select Certificate’ button to browse and select the certificate, enter the DSC password, and associate. Please ensure that the selected DSC belongs to the applicant whose particulars are being registered.
    • The system shall validate the DSC. The system will give an informatory message if the selected DSC is already registered against the given DIN. If a different DSC is registered against the given DIN, the system will ask if the user wants to update their DSC.
    • Type the displayed system-generated text for verification in the box provided. Accept the declaration that you have provided the correct and complete information by checking the box.
    • Click on the ‘Submit’ button to register your DSC.
    • A congratulatory message will be displayed. The user can take a print-out of the acknowledgment.

    “Congratulations, your DSC has been successfully associated with the MCA’.”

    DIR-3 Form:
    Any person intending to become a director in an existing company shall have to make an application in eForm DIR-3 and should follow the following procedure:

    1Supporting Documents:Attach the photograph and scanned copy of supporting documents. i.e. proof of identity, and proof of residence as per the guidelines.
    Physical documents are not required to be submitted at DIN cell.2Digital SignatureForm DIR-3 is mandatory to be signed by the Applicant and shall be verified digitally by a Company Secretary in full time employment of the company or by the Managing Director or Director or CEO or CFO of the existing company in which the applicant is intended to be appointed as a director.
    Related Links and Artefacts
    DIR-3 Form [zip] (231 KB)DIR-6 Form [zip] (265 KB)DIN RulesDIN ProcessView DIN Approval LetterFormat of AffidavitUPLOAD FORMS
    
    3Fee Payment
    Upon upload, make the payment of filing fee of eForm DIR-3. Only electronic payment of the fees shall be allowed (i.e. Net banking / Credit Card/Debit Card/Pay later/ NeFT).

    The user is required to get himself / herself registered on the MCA21 Portal to obtain Login ID. Login to the MCA21 portal and click on ‘eForm upload’ link available under the ‘eForms’ tab for uploading the eForm DIR- 3.eForm DIR-3 will be processed only after the DIN application fee is paid.4Generation of DIN
    Upon upload and successful payment, in case Form DIR-3 details have not been identified as potential duplicate, Approved DIN shall be generated and if the details have been identified as potential duplicate, Provisional DIN shall be generated.

    5Verification of e Form:
    In case, details of eForm DIR-3 are found as potential duplicate, the same gets routed to DIN cell for back office processing. Upon approval of the form, provisional DIN becomes approved DIN and would be available for further use.

    6Common Causes of Rejection:
    A provisional DIN is approved only after scrutiny of the documents attached with the application.

    Some of the common mistakes committed by applicants and on account of which the DIN application gets rejected are as under:

    Non-submission of supporting documents
    •The proof of identity of the applicant is not submitted.

    •The proof of father’s name of the applicant is not submitted.

    •The proof of date of birth of the applicant is not submitted.

    •The proof of residential address of the applicant is not submitted.

    •The copy of passport (for foreign nationals) is not submitted.

    Invalid Application/supporting Documents
    •The supporting documents are invalid or expired.

    •The proof of identity submitted has not been issued by a Government Agency.

    •The application/enclosed evidence has handwritten entries.

    •The submitted application is a duplicate DIN application and already one application of that applicant is pending or approved.

    •The submitted application does not have photograph affixed.

    •The signatures are not appended to the prescribed place.

    •The applicant’s name filled in application form does not match with the name in the enclosed evidence.

    •The applicant’s father’s name filled in application form does not match with the father’s name in the enclosed evidence.

    •The applicant’s date (DD/MM/YY) of birth filled in application form does not match with the date of birth in the enclosed evidence.

    •The address details filled in the application do not match with those contained in the enclosed supporting evidence.

    •The gender is not entered correctly in Form DIR-3.

    •Identification number entered in application does not match with the identity proof enclosed.

    •If enclosed documents are not self-attested.

    DIR-6 Form:
    If there is any change in the particulars submitted in form DIR-3/SPICe with respect to Directors, applicant can submit e-form DIR-6. For instance, in the event of change of address of a director, he/she is required to intimate this change by submitting e-form DIR-6 along with the required attested document.
    Digital Signature:
    The e-Form DIR-6 is required to be digitally signed by the Applicant and further certified by a Chartered Accountant or a Company Secretary or a Cost Accountant in whole- time practice or company secretary (member of ICSI)/Director of existing company in which applicant is proposed to be the director.