The Income Tax Department has introduced a digital PAN card system called e-PAN, allowing Indian residents to obtain a Permanent Account Number entirely online without visiting any office or submitting physical documents. According to reports from the Income Tax Department, the e-PAN card carries a unique 10-digit PAN number along with the holder's digital signature and is legally accepted for identity verification, KYC compliance, and income tax purposes with the same validity as a physical PAN card.
For those with a valid Aadhaar number, the Income Tax e-Filing portal offers an instant e-PAN, free of cost and processed in roughly ten minutes. As reported by the Income Tax Department, no application form needs to be filled out, and no documents need to be uploaded. The applicant simply enters their Aadhaar number, verifies through the OTP sent to their registered mobile number, and the e-PAN is dispatched to their email address. Recent social media guidance confirms that Aadhaar must be linked with mobile number and details in Aadhaar should be correct for successful processing.
The downloaded e-PAN comes as a password-protected PDF with the password being the holder's date of birth in the DDMMYYYY format. According to the Income Tax Department, if the email carrying the e-PAN is lost or deleted, the card can be re-downloaded from the NSDL or UTIITSL websites using the acknowledgement number, PAN, or date of birth, along with an OTP. A fee applies if the download is requested more than 30 days after the e-PAN was issued. The latest guidance confirms that e-PAN is valid for ITR filing, banking & KYC purposes.
Those who want a printed card can request a reprint through NSDL or UTIITSL after entering details such as PAN, Aadhaar number, and date of birth, and paying the applicable fee. As reported by the Income Tax Department, the printed card is dispatched to the applicant's residential address, providing flexibility for those who prefer physical documentation.
