The existing PAN card will remain valid under the PAN 2.0 initiative, and holders will automatically receive an electronic version of their card via email, without needing to apply. However, those who wish to obtain a physical card must apply and pay a fee of Rs 50 if they reside in India, the tax department announced on Tuesday.
If existing PAN holders wish to update or correct their details, such as email, mobile number, address, name, or date of birth, they can do so at no cost once the PAN 2.0 project is rolled out,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated in a set of FAQs released on Tuesday following approval of the Rs 1,400 crore project by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
In the meantime, holders can use the Aadhaar-based online facility for free updates of email, mobile, and address details.
The project will incorporate QR codes for validating PAN and other details, a feature that has already been launched. It will also consolidate all PAN and TAN-related services, currently hosted across three portals—e-filing portal, UTIITSL, and Protean e-Gov—onto the Income Tax Department portal, streamlining everything from application to allotment, online validation, Aadhaar linking, and updates. The entire process will be paperless, according to CBDT.
As announced in Budget 2023, PAN will now serve as the “common business identifier” for all digital systems of specified government agencies. The government hopes the PAN 2.0 initiative will help address the issue of individuals and entities holding multiple PANs, a practice that is currently illegal. The country’s database now includes 78 crore PANs and 73.3 lakh TANs.
What is the PAN 2.0 Project?
PAN 2.0 Project is an e-Goverance project of ITD for re-engineering the business processes of taxpayer registration services. The objective of the project is to enhance the quality of PAN services through adoption of latest technology. Under this project ITD is consolidating all processes related to PAN allotment/updation and corrections. The TAN related services are also merged with this project. Besides, PAN authentication/validation through online PAN validation service will be provided to user agencies such as financial institutions, banks, government agencies, central and state government departments, etc
Integration of Platforms: Presently, the PAN related services are hosted on three different portals (e-filing portal, UTIISL portal and Protean e-Gov Portal. In the PAN 2.0 project, all PAN/TAN related services will be hosted on a single unified portal of ITD. The said portal would host all end-to-end services related to PAN and TAN like allotment, updation, correction. Online PAN validation (OPV), Know your AO, AADHAAR-PAN linking, verify your PAN, request for e-PAN, request for re-print of PAN card