Notification No. 7/2018

Procedure formats and standards of issue of permanent account number PAN

What this is

Notification No. 7/2018 was published on 27 December 2018. Its subject is Procedure formats and standards of issue of permanent account number PAN.

What it does

A notification of the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) laying down the procedure, formats and standards for the issue of a permanent account number, in exercise of the power delegated by the amendment of 19 November 2018 to sub-rule (6) of the rule in the Income-tax Rules, 1962 governing applications for and issue of PAN. That sub-rule requires the Principal Director General or Director General of Income-tax (Systems) to specify the formats and standards along with the procedure for verification of documents filed with the application, for intimation of the Aadhaar number, and for issue of the permanent account number, and makes him responsible for evolving and implementing appropriate security, archival and retrieval policies. The notification then sets out, in a table, who issues a PAN in what form: the Director of Income-tax (Systems) or the respective Commissioner of Income-tax (Computer Operations) issues a black and white laminated PAN card in physical mode; an authorised PAN service provider issues, in physical mode, a coloured, laminated, credit card sized PAN card of approved design and specification carrying security features of a hologram, or a hologram with a QR code, or an enhanced QR code holding demographic as well as biometric information; and in electronic mode an e-PAN in PDF format with the enhanced QR code, digitally signed by the issuing agency with a class 2 or class 3 signature, relying on the legal recognition of electronic records with digital signatures under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Who it reaches

applicants for a permanent account number
authorised PAN service providers issuing cards
the Directorate of Income-tax (Systems) and Commissioners (Computer Operations)
persons verifying a PAN card or e-PAN presented to them

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

F.No. AD(;(S)-lIcasc of doing husiness_ c-PAN/20 17-18/Part

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Ccntral Board of Direct Taxes
Directorate of Incomc-tax(Svstcms)
-1

Notification -r of 20 18.
Ne\\ De lhi. 27th of December. 2018

SlIhj,'CI :- Procedure. Formats and Standards of issue of Permanent Account Number (PAN).

/\lllcnded Sub-rule (6) to rule II-l of Incolll': ~x Rules. 1962 notifi ed vide- notitication Ci .S.R. No. I l e8( F) dalcd 19.1 1.20 I R. sla'es ,ha' :-

" If)) the f'rill eipill Dirr:c/oJ" CJ e17l')'a/ (!I '!llco/llf!- lax f.\'ysll'IIIS) or Direclo},-(jellt>r,,1 o,.hll.'oml'-Iux (.\\SI(IIIS) .\110/1 \]l('l'UI' ,III.: fflr/n u ls (llld x/undo,.d", u/OII,,>-:Wif" ,wucec/un.: . .fiJI' /he r~licali()11 r dOf."lIlU(,I1/S /iled Il'ilil Ihe "1)1 )lh't lfioll lIlth,,. suh-rll/e (-I), infimalion ~(..raclhtl£lr IlIJJlher in .Hlh-rull! (5; {mel issue.' (!J'perIllOI/('1I1 (/el'OIlIlI "lImh{".,,Ii,,. el1suring seetin.' CU/ ,lJrl' (J}}(11J"lJI1S1I1issioJl (!fdala in sll~ h forlllal Lind s(alldal'ds Lild shaff a/so he J'l'.\'/Jol/.\jh/e j {)J' l 'l'oh-ill,l!. (lilt.! im/,/ellll'l1fillg ({Jl/w(~/J('inl' SeCl/l'i gy, un'lIin.1l und I'l'fl'i!!,'ul e nlidcs ill rclafion /0 /I /1'l/ is J i Ilg (!t', hL' (11'I'/ ieat i()) .Li )/'II u II (IF,'' (JI m/ Humher. il1l i mal if JI1 (IF,'' tlll/WUI' 1l11mha olld iss lIe (!FI1alllam:1lf an'iiI/lI numhcI', ..

, In l:':\crcise o f the powers dekgatl:d by the Central Board of Direct Ta\cs vide above noti fi calic)Jl G,S.R. No.1 128(F) dat~d 19.1 1.201R. thl".· Principal Director General of In comc-tax(Syst~ ) lays down the rncedurc, formats alld stan dards for isslIc or pennanent aCCOlllll number as under :-

| S.N". | Issuing authority/ agene), jp; | Proccdur;-for Isslíe of | Formats and standards for iss;;-;-of permane-.;ti account number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Din.:ctor or IIl('om ~- (Svstc'IllS) or I'I".'specli vc Commissioner of hH.:ome- 'a\IColl1J1!.l.er Operalions)-- | Physical modt:' | iliad & white and laminated permanent accoum! nUlllber card |
| 2. | AlItllnrised p~rmal1~111 account number service pro vider | Physical mode | Coloured. laminated and credit card siLed permanent account 1l11ll1hcl' card as per approved design and spl:!c itications ha vi ng nile or morc security fealure s of only hologram or hologram and QR codc . enimnccd QR codcl hm;nl.' (de~raphic as \1,'(' 11 as biometric infonn31ion). |
| | Electronic mode | 'enl1a[~e~t ac oLl r~t number isslied clcClr nic~II)11 ("PAN) 1"1 PDc (ormal \\'th enhanced QR code Ihavmg demo~r~phic s \\1".'11 as biomelric ~nfon~ali~lIl) and digitally signed ( class 2 or class .) ) h) ISSUlIlg agency as per Informat Ion Technology Act. 2000 \\'hich provides tor legal recognition of" electron; I".' corcs \vith digital i~ture~ |

(S.K. Dash)
P'r. Director General of Incomc-tax(S~'st{'ms)
New Delhi.

What to watch

The notification gives no commencement date of its own; it operates from its issue on 27 December 2018 under the rule as amended on 19 November 2018.
An e-PAN in PDF form, digitally signed by the issuing agency, is a valid issue of the permanent account number alongside the physical card.
The security features differ by issuing channel, so a departmental black and white card and a service provider's coloured card are both regular issues.
The scanned copy of this notification is badly degraded, and the rule and gazette numbers in it are not legible with confidence, so the gazetted text should be consulted before citing them.

Where you meet it

When a PAN card or e-PAN is issued, reissued or produced as proof of the permanent account number, and in checks on the authenticity of the card or its QR code.

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.