Section 45 creates a residuary penalty for contravention of rules, regulations, directions or orders where no separate penalty is prescribed. The contravener is liable for a penalty up to one lakh rupees, in addition to compensation payable to the affected person. Higher compensation applies to an intermediary, company or body corporate than to any other person.

Civil penalties apply for failure to furnish required documents, returns or reports to the Controller or a Certifying Authority. Defaults in filing returns or furnishing prescribed information, books or documents within regulatory time limits may attract daily penalties while the failure continues. Failure to maintain required books of account or records may also attract a daily penalty for the continuing period of non-compliance.

Section 43 establishes compensatory liability for unauthorised access, data extraction, introduction of contaminants or viruses, damage, disruption, denial of authorised access, account manipulation, information interference, and source-code tampering intended to cause damage. Damages by way of compensation are payable to the affected person. Computer contaminants and viruses include harmful instructions affecting data, programmes or normal computer operations, while damage includes destruction, alteration, deletion, addition, modification or rearrangement of a computer resource.

Section 42 requires every subscriber to exercise reasonable care in retaining control of the private key corresponding to the public key in the Digital Signature Certificate and to prevent its disclosure. If the private key is compromised, the subscriber must communicate the compromise without delay in the prescribed manner. Liability continues until the compromise is communicated.

Deemed acceptance of a Digital Signature Certificate arises when the subscriber publishes or authorises publication of it, places it in a repository, or otherwise demonstrates approval. Acceptance certifies to reasonable relying persons that the subscriber holds and is entitled to hold the corresponding private key, that representations made to the Certifying Authority and relevant material are true, and that certificate information within the subscriber's knowledge is true.

A subscriber accepting a Digital Signature Certificate containing a public key corresponding to the subscriber's private key must generate the corresponding public-private key pair by applying the applicable security procedure. This requirement ensures that the key pair recorded through the certificate is created in accordance with required security safeguards.

Suspension or revocation of a Digital Signature Certificate requires the Certifying Authority to publish notice in the repository identified in the certificate. If more than one repository is specified, publication is mandatory in every designated repository, ensuring notification of the certificate's status through each specified repository.

A Certifying Authority may revoke a Digital Signature Certificate upon request, death of the subscriber, or dissolution or winding up of a subscriber firm or company. Revocation may also occur for false or concealed material facts, unmet issuance requirements, or a security compromise materially affecting reliability. Before revocation, the subscriber must receive an opportunity of being heard, and the revocation must be communicated to the subscriber.

An issuing Certifying Authority may suspend a Digital Signature Certificate on the request of the subscriber or a duly authorised representative, or where suspension is considered necessary in the public interest. Suspension beyond fifteen days requires that the subscriber be given an opportunity of being heard. Following suspension, the Certifying Authority must communicate the suspension to the subscriber.

Digital Signature Certificate issuance requires certification of statutory compliance, publication or availability to a relying person, and subscriber acceptance. The subscriber must hold a private key corresponding to the listed public key, capable of creating a digital signature, with the public key capable of verifying it. The key pair must function, certificate information must be accurate, and no known material fact may undermine the reliability of these representations.

Any person may apply for an electronic signature certificate in the prescribed form, with the prescribed fee and a certification practice statement or other required statement of particulars. The Certifying Authority may conduct appropriate enquiries and grant or reject the application after considering the submitted material. A rejection must be supported by recorded reasons, and the applicant must receive a reasonable opportunity to show cause before the proposed refusal.

Certifying Authorities must disclose electronic signature certificates, relevant certification practice statements, certificate revocation or suspension, and facts materially affecting certificate reliability or their ability to provide certification services. Where an event may materially affect computer-system integrity or conditions governing grant of an electronic signature certificate, they must notify persons likely to be affected through reasonable efforts or follow the procedure in their certification practice statements.

Every Certifying Authority whose licence is suspended or revoked must immediately surrender the licence to the Controller. Failure to surrender the licence makes the person in whose favour it was issued liable to a penalty, which may extend to five lakh rupees.

Every Certifying Authority must display its licence conspicuously at the premises where it carries on business. The requirement ensures that the licence is readily visible at the operational site.

Certifying Authorities must ensure that every employee and other person engaged by them complies, while acting in the course of employment or engagement, with the Information Technology Act, 2000, and all rules, regulations, and orders made under it. The provision imposes an institutional compliance responsibility extending beyond the certifying entity itself to persons performing work under its direction or on its behalf.

Certifying Authorities must deploy systems and procedures secure from intrusion and misuse, provide reliable services suited to intended functions, and protect the secrecy and privacy of electronic signatures. They must maintain a repository of issued electronic signature Certificates, publish information on their practices and certificate status, and comply with further regulatory standards.

Section 29 empowers the Controller and authorised persons, on reasonable suspicion of a Chapter contravention, to access computer systems, apparatus, data, and connected material for searches to obtain available information or data. It also permits an order requiring persons responsible for or connected with operating the relevant system, data, apparatus, or material to provide necessary reasonable technical and other assistance.

Contraventions of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and subordinate rules and regulations must be investigated by the Controller or an authorised officer. Investigative powers correspond to those available to Income-tax authorities under Chapter XIII of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and must be exercised subject to the limitations applicable under that framework.

Written authorisation enables the Controller to delegate any power exercisable under the Chapter regulating Certifying Authorities to a Deputy Controller, Assistant Controller, or any other officer. Delegation must be made in writing and permits the authorised officer to exercise those delegated Controller powers within the Chapter pursuant to that authorisation.

The Controller must publish notice in the maintained database when a Certifying Authority's licence is suspended or revoked. Where specified repositories exist, notice must be published in all of them. The database containing the notice must be accessible round the clock through a website, and its contents may additionally be publicised through appropriate electronic or other media.