Existing PAN cards will continue to remain valid under the PAN 2.0 project with users supposed to automatically receive an electronic version of it in their mail ID, without applying for it.
However, those who want a physical card will have to apply and pay ₹50 for it if they live within the country, according to the income tax department.
Also Read: Mahindra hits the EV market with BE 6e and XEV 9e, know all about them
“If existing PAN holders want to make any correction/updation of their existing PAN details such as email, mobile or address or demographic details such as name, date of birth etc, they can do so at free of cost after the PAN 2.0 Project commences,” the Central Board of Direct taxes said in a set of FAQs. “Till the time the PAN 2.0 project is rolled-out, the PAN holders can avail the Aadhaar based online facility for updation/correction of email, mobile and address free-of-cost.”
The FAQs were released a day after the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) cleared the ₹1,400 crore project.
Apart from this, the department also said that QR codes will be part of the project, but that the feature has already been rolled out for validating PAN and other details.
Also Read: Centre approves PAN 2.0 project: What’s new, top benefits and all you need to know
All of the PAN and TAN related services which are currently hosted on three different portals (e-filing portal, UTIITSL and Protean e-Gov), will move to the income tax department portal.
End-to-end services – from application to allotment, online validation, linking with Aadhaar and updation will also be provided with the entire process being paperless, the report quoted the CBDT as having said.
The government has decided to make PAN as the “common business identifier” for all digital systems of specified govt agencies, as announced in the Union Budget 2023.
The government also hopes to check instances of law violations wherein individuals hold multiple PAN cards.
Also Read: Adani Group says it lost nearly $55 billion since US indictment: Report