Government Working
I recently applied for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card. A mere six days later, my PAN had been issued and was ready to go. Fast by any standards. Issued by the Indian government, the PAN’s main purpose is to identify each tax payer uniquely. The card is also accepted everywhere as government issued photographic identification (photo ID).
Most people I know are sure that anything to do with government is slow, difficult, requires a word put in the right quarters, and that the entire process is generally fraught with anxiety. The purpose of this post is two-fold – firstly, to make the public aware of one real instance when this was not the case and, secondly, to explain exactly what I did.
Google ‘PAN Card Application’ and several websites show up. It is important to verify that one is using an official government website, and one easy way is to check for the ‘.gov.in’ suffix in the URL which identifies Indian government websites. The official site for the PAN application details is https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/…/tax-…/apply-for-pan.aspx This page is operated by the Income Tax Department. Within it, it gives two officially sanctioned websites to actually go through the application process. Either is perfectly fine. I chose the first one – https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html
This immediately takes you, without any ado, to the application form itself. The first field is Application Type. There are three: 1) New PAN – Indian Citizen, 2) New PAN – Foreign Citizen and 3) Changes, Correction or Reprint of PAN data. In the second field, Category, I chose Individual. The rest of the fields in the first screen asks for the most basic of personal information. Click Submit and it assigns the applicant a temporary token number allowing saving of one’s work screen by screen and returning to it as needed.
The rest of the screens are quite logical and painless. It asks for copies (not originals) of documents we will be providing for proofs of identity, date of birth and address. I selected Passport for proof of identity. Sensibly, the system greyed out the requirement for proof of date of birth since the passport serves that purpose as well. I selected Bank Statement for proof of address. Once done with all the screens, it does a sanity check for filling of all compulsory fields, directs you to any that were not completed, allows you to change it and then provides a preview. Once can then make the appropriate payment online – Rs. 107 for domestic addresses and about Rs. 1,000 for international addresses (yes, it can be mailed abroad too).
One should then download the completed application, print it, affix two passport photographs (with glue and not staples or paper clips) – one on the left and one on the right. The one on the left should be signed across the photograph (avoiding the face) while the one on the right must be signed below the photo in the provided box. There is also one signature required at the end of the form. Self- attested copies of the required proofs should be attached (use a paper clip just to be on the safe side) – if using the bank passbook, as I did, take copies of the front page with the name and address and also of the last page where the latest entries of debits and credits are provided – because what is asked for is a ‘Bank Statement’.
The applicant receives an email immediately after payment acknowledging receipt and specifying where to send the documents. One also has the option of physically handing over the document to specified entities (one wishes this was also mentioned in the email but it wasn’t) – to find these, go to this URL – https://www.tin-nsdl.com/services/pan/pan-index.html and select ‘Designated centres accepting online PAN documents’. I chose this option when I found that one of the centres was close to my home and faster than going to the post office to weigh and mail the documentation. This was sans difficulty too and no money was asked for.
And that was it! I kept getting periodic SMS and email notification of the progress. Then, on Thursday morning, barely 6 days later, I received an email and SMS mentioning my allocated PAN number and that the physical card would be mailed shortly.
One regularly hears of how India fares poorly in the seamless provision of government services. Well, getting the PAN was faster than how long it took me to a get a Social Security Number in the US. We are definitely making great strides forward towards digital India. Be it ordering water though the Metro Water website or making changes to the Family Card, it is so much smoother. Even getting a learner’s driving permit is now online.
It might take time but we ARE heading in the right direction. Let us appreciate the progress!
