3i Infotech launches eMudhra service for retail clients

Mumbai-based IT products and service firm 3i Infotech, launched eMudhra, an initiative to roll out digital signatures. With this launch, 3i Infotech becomes the eighth certifying authority in India to offer digital signature. eMudhra would be offered through the company’s subsidiary 3i Infotech Consumer Services.

Available for a base price of Rs 99 per year, 3i Infotech is aiming to garner a consumer base of 10-12 million in the next two to three years.

Currently, the services used by corporates and some of the government agencies, comes at price range of Rs 300 to Rs 1,500. Digital signature have been in existence in India since 2000 and since then 7,00,000 signatures have been issued.

The service can be used in different fields such as online banking, credit card applications, online trading and eGovernance activities among others. “While many among us file our returns online, we still need to send a hard copy to the Income-tax department for authenticity as digital signatures are not taken by individual users. With a price point of Rs 99 and our target to empower the retail consumer, we think we can increase the adoption of digital signature in India,” said V Srinivasan, managing director and CEO, 3i Infotech.

The company has invested so far Rs 30 crore and is eyeing a revenue of Rs 800-960 crore in the next three years from sale of digital signatures and other services around it.

“While the digital signature is just about Rs 99, we are planning to get revenues from the application bundle that we plan to sell to consumers. We are looking at an average business of Rs 800-900 per person annually,” said Ravi Jagannathan, managing director and CEO, 3i Infotech Consumer Services.

The other certified authorities to offer digital signature are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Central Board of Excise and Customs, National Informatic Centre (NIC), MTNL, Sify, nCode, and IDRBT.