1. Any person may make an application to the Certifying Authority for the issue of an Electronic Signature Certificate in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
2. Every such application shall be accompanied by such fee not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees as may be prescribed by the Central Government, to be paid to the Certifying Authority:
3. Provided that while prescribing fees under sub-section (2), different fees may be prescribed for different classes of applicants.
4. Every such application shall be accompanied by a certification practice statement or where there is no such statement, a statement containing such particulars, as may be specified by regulations.
5. On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the Certifying Authority may, after consideration of the certification practice statement or the other statement under sub-section (3) and after making such enquiries as it may deem fit, grant the Electronic Signature Certificate or for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject the application:

Provided that no Electronic Signature Certificate shall be granted unless the Certifying Authority is satisfied that—

1. the applicant holds the private key corresponding to the public key to be listed in the Electronic Signature Certificate;
2. the applicant holds a private key, which is capable of creating a digital signature;
3. the public key to be listed in the certificate can be used to verify a digital signature affixed by the private key held by the applicant:

Provided further that no application shall be rejected unless the applicant has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed rejection.