The upgrade for existing PAN holders will be free of cost.
An upgrade of existing Permanent Account Number (PAN) with an additional feature of QR code on the cards along with a proposal to make PAN “the common identifier for businesses” was approved by the Union Cabinet on Monday.
The Cabinet approved the PAN 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department, with a cost of Rs 1,435 crore, under which the existing system will be upgraded completely, the digital backbone will be revamped and PAN will be made as a common business identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during the Cabinet briefing.
The upgrade for existing PAN holders will be free of cost.
The PAN 2.0 project will enable technology-driven transformation of taxpayer registration services with an aim to improve ease of access and service delivery, an official statement said. The PAN 2.0 project proposes to make PAN as the “single source of truth and data consistency” and with security and optimisation of infrastructure for greater agility, a statement said.
Around 78 crore PAN cards have been issued so far, out of which 98 per cent belong to individuals.
Vaishnaw said there have been demands by businesses to not have different identification numbers and thus, the new PAN will work as a common business identifier. There will be a unified portal as the existing software is nearly 15-20 years old, he said. “It’ll be completely paperless, online and a lot of focus will be on the grievance redressal system,” he said.
