DSC token on the GST portal: install the driver and emSigner step by step

What you need

Signing GST returns or registrations with a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) involves three pieces:

• your DSC token — a USB crypto token holding a Class 2 or Class 3 certificate;
• the token's driver (middleware), so Windows can talk to the token;
• the GST portal's emSigner, which runs as a local service so the website can use your certificate.

You also need a Windows PC (32-bit or 64-bit), Java 1.6–1.8 as listed in the GST portal's system requirements, and a desktop browser such as Chrome, Edge or Firefox. DSC signing does not work on a mobile phone.

Step 1: Identify your token

Look at the label on the token. This guide uses the FEITIAN ePass2003 (also sold as ePass2003 Auto). If you have a different token — for example a HYP2003 or ProxKey — use the driver offered by the Certifying Authority that issued your DSC. The steps are the same; only the driver file changes.

Step 2: Install the ePass2003 driver

FEITIAN, the token's maker, does not publish a Windows driver download. Certifying Authorities host it instead. We link to the repository of e-Mudhra, a Certifying Authority licensed by India's Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA).

1. Unplug the token.
2. Open e-mudhra.com/Repository and find Token Drivers.
3. Download ePass2003India-Setup.exe (Feitian Middleware for ePass2003). Don't pick the file marked "New" — that is HyperPKI middleware for a different token, the HYP2003.
4. Right-click the file → Properties → Digital Signatures and check that it is signed by FEITIAN Technologies. Not sure how? Read how to check a digital signature.
5. Right-click the file → Run as administrator and finish the setup.
6. Restart the PC, then plug in the token. Its light should come on.

Note: the e-Mudhra build is old (around 2016–17) and does not state Windows 10/11 support. If the Certifying Authority that issued your DSC offers a newer driver for your token, use that one.

Step 3: Download the right emSigner version

emSigner comes from the GST portal itself, at gst.gov.in/help/docsigner. The page lists two versions, and the right one depends on when you got your token:

• v3.3 — "to be used with tokens/USB device obtained on or after 21-Sep-2026". When we checked, it was listed for Windows only; the Linux and Mac entries said "Will be available soon".
• v2.8 — "to be used with tokens/USB device obtained before 21-Sep-2026". Available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

If the portal cannot find your token, the emSigner version is one of the first things to check. Download emSigner only from gst.gov.in, never from blogs or file-sharing sites.

Step 4: Install and run emSigner as administrator

1. Install emSigner with administrator rights.
2. Before you open the GST portal, right-click emSigner → Run as administrator, and accept the message that the service has started.
3. emSigner needs one free local port out of 1585, 2095, 2568, 2868 and 4587. If another signer utility is running, close it.
4. Open the GST portal in your browser, log in and go to the task that needs your DSC — registering the DSC or signing a return or application. Choose your certificate when emSigner asks.

If the token isn't detected

• Try another USB port and check that the token's light comes on.
• Make sure you installed the Feitian middleware, not the HYP2003 (HyperPKI) one.
• Reinstall the middleware as administrator and restart the PC.
• Confirm you have the right emSigner version for the date you got your token.
• Run emSigner as administrator every time before you sign.
• Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a PC.
• Check that your DSC certificate is still within its validity period; an expired certificate must be renewed with the Certifying Authority that issued it.

More fixes are on our ePass2003 driver page and emSigner page.