An Individual (Sign + Encrypt) Digital Signature Certificate combines identity verification with data privacy.

While a Sign-Only DSC proves who signed a document, the Encryption key ensures that sensitive bid documents and financial files remain locked so no unauthorized person or competitor can view them before official evaluation.  

Primary Uses of Individual (Sign + Encrypt) DSC

• Sole Proprietorship Government Tenders & e-Procurement: Mandatory on portals like CPPP, GeM, and State e-Tenders when bidding under your personal name or a Sole Proprietorship firm. The Sign component authenticates your bid, while the Encrypt component locks your commercial price offer until the portal officially opens the tenders.  

• e-Auctions & Commercial Bidding: Submitting sealed financial bids for government asset sales, railway auctions (IREPS), or public sector procurement.

• Trademarks, Patents & IP Filings: Digitally signing and encrypting confidential intellectual property registrations on the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) portal.

• Encrypted Email & Secure File Sharing: Transmitting highly confidential financial statements, legal contracts, or sensitive correspondence over public networks securely.

• High-Security Personal Submissions: Participating in specialized online vendor registrations or financial platforms that mandate double-layer security (signature verification + data encryption).

Why Is "Encrypt" Required Alongside "Sign"?

1. Confidentiality: It scrambles your bid data into unreadable ciphertext. Even portal administrators cannot view your price details until the official tender opening date.  

2. Preventing Bid Leakage: Ensures nobody can intercept, read, or tamper with your price proposal during transmission.  

3. Dual-Key Storage: Both certificates (Sign key and Encrypt key) are held inside a single USB token, requiring your master PIN to access either key.