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Home Know Your Documents PAN Card

PAN Card

Your Permanent Account Number — mandatory for most financial transactions and filing income tax.

What It's Actually For

PAN (Permanent Account Number) is a 10-character alphanumeric ID mandatory for filing income tax returns, opening a bank/demat account, transactions above specified value thresholds, and most formal financial dealings.

How to Get It

  • Apply online via the NSDL (Protean, tin-nsdl.com / onlineservices.nsdl.com) or UTIITSL (utiitsl.com) portals, or through authorised PAN centres.
  • Requires identity, address and date-of-birth proof; a small fee applies (higher for physical dispatch, lower for e-PAN only).
  • e-PAN is typically issued within a few days; the physical card takes longer to be dispatched by post.

How to Correct a Mistake

  • Corrections (spelling, address, date of birth, photo) are filed as a "PAN Correction" request through the same NSDL/UTIITSL portal you originally applied through.

Common Problems

  • Duplicate PAN issued by mistake — holding more than one PAN is actually illegal and can attract a penalty; surrender the extra one immediately via the correction form.
  • PAN-Aadhaar not linked — an unlinked PAN can become inoperative, blocking financial transactions; link it via the Income Tax e-filing portal.
Who To Actually Contact

Grievance & help

Income Tax Department, via NSDL (Protean eGov) and UTIITSL

Official issuing authority for this document

NSDL (Protean) Helpline: 020-27218080
UTIITSL Helpline: 033-40802999
Income Tax e-filing Portal (PAN-Aadhaar linking): incometax.gov.in
Quick Answers

Still wondering about...

What if I have two PAN cards by mistake?
Surrender the duplicate immediately through a correction request — holding multiple PANs can attract a penalty under the Income Tax Act.
Aadhaar CardVoter ID (EPIC)

Adhikar is an independent citizen-awareness platform, not a Government of India website. Helplines, portals and exact processes can change over time — always cross-check against the official portal listed above before relying on this for an actual application.