The Narendra Modi government has made it easy to get a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card. The new applicants are no longer required to fill a detailed application form Now. One can get a PAN card instantly in 10 minutes. The service was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this year. The Finance Minister of India had launched the facility of instant Permanent Account Number using Aadhaar number-based e-KYC. The facility is now available for all those PAN applicants who possess a valid Aadhaar card number and have a mobile number registered in the UIDAI database.
Under this instant PAN card service, the 10-digit card is issued in PDF format to applicants, without any charges. The applicant is required to type in a valid Aadhaar card number and submit the OTP generated on the registered mobile number. Once the process is complete, a 15-digit acknowledgement number is generated. The applicant will receive a copy of the e-PAN in the e-mail id registered with the Aadhaar database.
However, there are some Aadhaar cardholders who cannot avail instant PAN facility. In case one’s Aadhaar card is invalid, in that case, one won’t be able to avail the service as the data is auto-extracted from the UIDAI and is verified for e-KYC purpose. No other documents need to be furnished further in the process of the PAN application through the e-filing portal.
Before applying, one needs to make sure that one’s Aadhaar number is linked to mobile number as this is also a prerequisite. This is required because the income tax department sends the one-time password (OTP) on the mobile number linked to the 12-digit UIDAI-issued Aadhaar ID.
Also, the service is only available for people aged 18 or above. Companies, HUFs, partnership firms are not eligible for this facility.
