Member Article

The digital signature in Bolivia was created by the General Law on Telecommunications, Information and Communication Technologies No. 164, published on August 8, 2011, granting full legal and evidentiary validity to the legal act or business carried out using this technological tool.

Supreme Decree No. 1793 of November 13, 2013, approved the Regulation for the Development of Information and Communication Technologies and delegated to the Telecommunications and Transport Regulation and Control Authority (ATT) the elaboration of regulations and procedures Specific that the Certifying Entities must comply with in order to provide the digital certification service in the country.

Administrative Regulatory Resolution RAR ATT-DJ-RA-TL LP 1211/2014, of July 11, 2014, approved the "TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND OTHER GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED FOR THE OPERATION OF CERTIFICATING ENTITIES", which was subsequently supplemented and updated on 9 January 2015 with the RAR ATT-DJ-RA-TL LP 32/2015.

The digital signature in Bolivia allows to: 

• Ensure the origin of a document and verify that its content has not been altered.
• Accurately identify the author of the document or signature
  
  

-- It has the same legal validity as a handwritten document.

-- Add security system to make the content of a document unalterable.

The companies in charge of providing the digital certification service in Bolivia are:

- Digital Certifications Digicert S.R.L.

- The Agency for the Development of the Information Society in Bolivia (ADSIB) (public certifier)

The requirements for Legal Persons to obtain the qualification of Certifying Entities are the following: 

1. Application Form provided by the Certifying Entity
2. Original Authorization Letter detailing the name and title of the Digital Certificate Holder, signed by the legal representative of the company.
3. Copy of identity document or foreigner's identity document of the Digital Certificate Holder.
4. Copy of the NIT and / or registration certificate to the national register of digital biometric taxpayers (PBD-11).
5. Copy of identity document or foreigner identity document of the legal representative of the company.
6. Copy of the power of attorney of the legal representative of the company.

The procedure for applying for a Certificate is as follows: 

1. Fill out an application form in person at any of the offices enabled nationwide
2. Appear personally at any of the offices, for validation of the identity of the owner through the respective validation process.
3. Sign the Service Adhesion Contract.
4. Make the payment according to the corresponding rate

To date, the Bolivian National Customs is the only institution in Bolivia that has certification for the use of the digital signature.

However, several institutions, both public and private, are already taking steps to obtain certification and enter the digital era in their most common procedures, as long as they do not require the physical presence of the user.