The government has made it really easy to get a PAN card. The subscribers are no longer required to fill a detailed application form and can get PAN card instantly in 10 minutes. The service was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this year. She had launched the facility of instant Permanent Account Number using Aadhaar number-based e-KYC. The facility is now available for all those Permanent Account Number (PAN) applicants who possess a valid Aadhaar number and have a mobile number registered in the UIDAI database.
Under this service, PAN card is issued in PDF format to applicants, absolutely free of cost. The applicant is required to type in their valid Aadhaar number and submit the OTP generated on the registered mobile number. Once the process is complete, a 15-digit acknowledgement number is generated. You will receive a copy of the 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 your Aadhaar card is invalid, you will not 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, you need to make sure that Aadhaar number is linked to mobile number as this is also a pre-requisite. 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.
Lastly, you need to makes sure that you don’t have a double Aadhaar card as keeping two is prohibited. If an individual is found to carrying two or more PAN cards, they too are penalized and they will have to pay Rs 10,000 fine.
