Online PAN Card Application

The increased penetration of internet in almost all walks of life has made it both convenient and mandatory for the government too to take the online route. Keeping this in mind, the online PAN application facility for customers was rolled out by the Income Tax Department in the year 2003. Two government agencies namely NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) and UTIITSL (UTI Infrastructure Technologies and Services Limited) were roped in to provide online interface to customers for application of new PAN or for correction/modification/reprint of PAN card.

Online application of PAN is one of the most convenient ways of applying for PAN since the hassle involved is the least and the process is quick, convenient and effective. Both NSDL and UTITSL websites have furnished explicit guidelines and instructions to help applicants experience a smooth application process. PAN applications can be made by various entities like individuals, HUFs, trusts, NRIs, organizations etc.

Application of PAN can at the broadest be categorized into two main categories, one that is made by Indians staying within the country and abroad and two is made by foreigners who have business in the country. This is the segregation based on entities, however, based on the online application process, it can be classified into applications that are made with NSDL and those that are made with UTIITSL. Let us look into the two online processes to apply for PAN with NSDL and with UTIITSL.

Online Application of PAN Card at NSDL website

Online application for PAN can be made for issue of new PAN as well as reprint or correction of PAN card details. Listed below is the step by step procedure for each of the online applications that can be made with respect to Permanent Account Number, PAN.

Online Application for New PAN Card by NSDL

Form 49A needs to be filled by applicants who are applying for a new PAN. This means that applicants who have never applied for a PAN and who do not have a PAN assigned to them currently are supposed to use this form for PAN application.

Step 1: Fill up the online form49A hosted on the NSDL or UTIITSL website. Review and edit any information that has been filled incorrectly.

Step 2: Once the details are submitted, the website will redirect you to a payment gateway for payment of processing fee. The fee currently for new PAN applications is Rs.107 which is inclusive of service tax of 14.5%. This fee can be paid online either via debit card or credit card or by means of internet banking. For offline payment of fee, cheque or demand draft can be used. Also, for applications that have a foreign address, the fee that is required to be paid is Rs.962.

Step 3: Once the money is paid, an acknowledgement number is generated for the user to keep for reference. The status of your PAN request can then be tracked via this reference number. The acknowledgement receipt carries this reference number.

Step 4: Applicant is required to take a print out of this acknowledgement receipt and send it to the Income Tax Department. This acknowledgement should be accompanied by the required documents for proof of address and proof of identity. Also, two passport sized photographs need to be attached to the acknowledgement print-out.

Step 5: The acknowledgement letter along with relevant documents should be sent to the Income Tax Department within 15 days from the date of online application. The envelope that is sent should be labelled – “APPLICATION FOR PAN –”

Step 6: Once the documents and acknowledgement reaches the Tax Department, the various information is verified and if found satisfactory, a new PAN is issued to the applicant. An email regarding PAN details and the dispatch of PAN card is sent to your registered email id. The PAN card reaches the applicant within 30 days from the date of filing the application. For tracking purposes, the acknowledgement number furnished at the time of submission of application form, can be made use of.

NOTE: The documents and the acknowledgement print-out should be posted to the Income Tax Department within 15 days of online application. Otherwise, the process stands cancelled and the fee paid for the same is lost. In this case, the user will need to initiate a fresh PAN application process once again.

Also, fields marked in asterisk are mandatory fields and cannot be left blank in the form.

Online Application for Reprint of PAN Card by NSDL

There may be times when an entity needs to get a duplicate PAN card. This may occur in situations when the original PAN card is misplaced or lost and the cardholder no more holds a physical card. In such cases, the application form remains the same, that is, form 49A. The various fields are filled in the same way as the above listed steps for application of new PAN.

A few documents need to be attached with this application. These are proof of address, proof of identity and proof of date of birth.

NOTE: An important point that needs to be taken care of while filling any of the application forms for PAN is that the field, ‘Name’ in the application form should match exactly with the name in the submitted documents. Any discrepancy in this leads to rejection of application.

Online Application for Correction/Modification of PAN Details on NSDL

Since, the PAN application process consists of human intervention at various steps, it is quite possible to have errors creep in. There are times when details printed on the PAN card are misspelled or wrongly furnished. Also, for married women who change their names, there may arise the requirement for a modified PAN card.

Correction or modification of PAN card details takes care of exactly these points and offers a chance to cardholders to get their PAN details corrected. The application form to be filled for correction or modification of PAN details has almost the same fields as that for new PAN application.

Online Application of PAN at UTIITSL Website

UTIITSL is another government agency authorized by the Income Tax Department for processing of PAN applications. Since, PAN has become an extremely essential and widely used identification document, the volume for such PAN applications is high and hence the need for more than one organization to work on the same.

Online Application for New PAN Card by UTIITSL

UTIITSL is another government agency that has been roped in by the Income Tax Department to handle PAN application related issues. The process to apply is similar to the one followed at NSDL website. The steps involved in the process are detailed out below.

Step 1: Fill in the application form 49A with mandatory details like name, address, father’s name etc.

Step 2: Once you fill in all the required information, click on the “validation” button which is to be clicked before you hit the “submit button”. The applicant is shown a verification screen on click of the “submit” button. AT this point you can check whether the filled in information is correct as per your knowledge.

Step 3: The next step is to make payment for processing of PAN application. Two payment gateway options namely Billdesk and PayU are offered to customers to choose from. Internet Banking, Debit Card or Credit Card payment options can be selected to make the payment.

Step 4: Once the payment is successful, payment confirmation is sent and a receipt for the same is displayed which can be printed by the applicant for future use.

Step 5: If the payment fails, the relevant message is displayed on the screen and the applicant may either choose to cancel the transaction or retry again.

Step 6: For successful payment, once the form is printed by the applicant, two passport size photographs need to be affixed and the application form needs to be signed. Attach copies of required documents (address, age and identity proof) with this updated and signed form and send it to your nearest UTIITSL office. These UTIITSL PAN processing offices are located in all the four metropolitan cities of the country namely, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

The status of the PAN application can be tracked via the coupon number that is furnished by UTIITSL after the submission of your PAN application form. For reprint and correction of PAN application status, the existing PAN number can be used for tracking.

NOTE: The application form 49A should be obtained from the official UTIITSL website itself and in case thumb impression is used instead of signature, it needs to be verified and attested by a Magistrate, Notary or a Gazetted officer.

Online Application for Correction/Modification of PAN Details by UTIITSL

There are times when PAN details printed on your PAN card may get printed incorrectly or your personal data may get recorded wrongly with the backend system of UTIITSL. For such instances, PAN correction or modification can be applied. The form that needs to be filled is exactly the same and also the documents that need to be attached are all the same. Identity proofs, address proof and age proof are the three documents required. Fields that need to be changed are ticked against a checkbox.

The updated form print is then taken and sent along with the supporting documents to the UTIITSL offices in any of the 4 metro cities nearest to your place. For correction of PAN, another thing that is important is the submission of proof of existing PAN. This could be copy of existing PAN or copy of the acknowledgement letter received with the previous PAN.

There is a fee associated with correction or modification of PAN details.

Online Application for Reprint of PAN by UTIITSL

There are instances when due to certain reasons a PAN cardholder may lose his /her PAN card. In such situations, a reprint of the existing PAN card can be obtained by submitting the required identity and age proofs and making payment for the application fee.

You are also required to submit a documents which proves that you are an existing PAN holder. This could be a copy of your lost PAN card or copy of the acknowledgement letter received at the time the existing PAN card was furnished. Once these documents along with the application form are sent to the UTIITSL office, the details are matched against the existing records and reprint of PAN card is sent to your registered address.

However, in case there exists a discrepancy in matching details filled out in the application form and those existing in the Income Tax central database then your reprint request is rejected.

Applying with the NSDL or the UTIITSL online are the two primary ways to make online applications for PAN. There may be other external websites on the internet asking users to apply for PAN, however, for online application of PAN, the only two websites authorized by the Income Tax Department are NSDL and UTIITSL. Hence, even if you go and register on any website other than these, they will almost always get redirected to these official websites for application of PAN.

Also, there are a few websites that act as facilitators for PAN application. These websites do the tasks of collecting documents from your place and sending them to NSDL or UTIITSL on your behalf. These are essentially meant as agents which will charge a service fee and perform the end-to-end application process on your behalf.

*Disclaimer

News About Online Application of PAN

• Now, apply, rectify PAN online

  Applicants can now apply for PAN cards and rectify errors on their cards online through the official PAN website.
  An application for a PAN card can be filed online for Rs 107 for an Indian address and Rs 994 for a foreign address. Payment can be made through credit card, debit card, DD or net banking. Relevant supporting documents needs to be sent by post or courier and once the documents are verified, the application will be processed.
  Proof of address needs to be submitted in case of an official address. New PAN cards will be allotted through Form 49AA.
  
  

  
  

• Use Aadhaar based eSign and eKYC to apply for PAN card online

   It has become very easy to avail a Permanent Account Number card or PAN card now. The Government of India has started a process by which an individual can apply for the PAN card online using the Aadhaar based eSign and eKYC. An applicant who holds a valid Aadhaar card and registered email id or mobile phone number can avail this particular service.
  The applicant of this service can choose one of the following options when applying for PAN:
  • Submit digitally via eSign and eKYC (paperless) – There is no requirement of uploading photo or signing the scanned images. The photo that has been used in the Aadhaar card of the individual will also be used for the PAN card.
  • Submit the scanned images via eSign – Scanned images must be uploaded by the applicant.
  • Forwarding the documents for application physically – Following the old process of sending all the documents needed physically.
  
  

  
  

• PAN card to be given instantly

  In a bid to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi's endeavor to promote digitization in India, the Central Board of Direct Taxes is making efforts to issue the Permanent Account Number (PAN) quicker with the help of Aadhaar's e-KYC facility. This facility helps the user to authenticate details using the biometric identification option.
  A report quoting an authority from the PAN department has announced that this step will minimize the number of steps included in the process of getting a PAN card. It will also reduce the time taken from three weeks to a few minutes. However, though the applicant will receive the PAN number instantly, the office will deliver the card after a while.
  After this, the Income Tax Department is contemplating the alternative of creating a smartphone app that will help taxpayers to pay their taxes with ease. This app will not only help them keep a track of their investments and returns but will also help them in applying for a PAN card online.
  Recently, the government announced that it will issue PAN cards that have been newly designed. These cards will feature added security that will turn them tamper-proof. The content of these cards will be available in English and Hindi.
  
  

  
  

• You Can Reissue Your PAN CardOnline

  If you have lost your PAN card, you can now get the card re-issued online. You can log on to tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/ and choose the ‘Reprint of PAN Card’. This will direct you towards the forms required to be filled up to obtain a PAN reprint. In the form, do not select any box on left margin.
  If the PAN has to be delivered anywhere in India, you need to pay Rs. 107 – either through online banking transfer, credit cards or debit cards, or through a demand draft. If the delivery address is outside the country, you have to pay Rs. 989.
  If your payment is done online, you need to print out the receipt and send it to the NSDL office in Pune along with 2 passport-sized photographs. If you are paying by demand draft or cheque, they can be sent to NSDL along with your photographs and acknowledgement slip.