On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman formally launched the facility for instant allotment of PAN through Aadhaar based e-KYC. Under this, PAN will be allotted instantly, or near to a real time basis.
The 'beta' verson of the scheme was launched on a trial basis from February 12 on the e-filing website of Income Tax Department. This facility is now available for those PAN applicants who possess a valid Aadhaar number and have a mobile number registered with Aadhaar. The allotment process is paperless and an electronic PAN (e-PAN) is issued to the applicants free of cost.
According to tweets posted by the Income Tax Department, the launch follows the announcement made by Sitharaman in the Union Budget earlier this year.
Here's how you can apply for an instant PAN:
1. Log on to the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department.
2. Enter your Aadhaar number. An OTP is sent to the Aadhaar registered mobile number and must be entered on the site.
3. On completion of this process, a 15-digit acknowledgment no is generated.
4. In case you want to check the status of your request, you can log in at any time by providing the valid Aadhaar number.
5. Once allotted, the e-PAN can be downloaded. The e-PAN is also sent to applicant on the email id, if registered with Aadhaar.
