Root Certifying Authority of India (RCAI)

The CCA has established the RCAI under section 18(b) of the IT Act to digitally sign the public keys of CAs in the country. The RCAI is operated as per the standards laid down under the Act.

The requirements fulfilled by the RCAI include the following:

• The licence issued to the CA is digitally signed by the CCA.
• All public keys corresponding to the signing private keys of a CA are digitally signed by the CCA.
• That these keys are signed by the CCA can be verified by a relying party through the CCA's website or CA's own website.

The RCAI is operated using SmartTrust software. Authorized CCA personnel initiate and perform Root CA functions in accordance with the Certification Practice Statement of Root Certifying Authority of India. The term Root CA is used to refer to the total CA entity, including the software and its operations.

The RCAI root certificate is the highest level of certification in India. It is used to sign the public keys of the Licensed CAs in India. The RCAI root certificate is a self-signed certificate.