A Permanent Account Number is required for almost everything financial in India - opening bank accounts, filing taxes, transactions above certain limits. The good news: for most applicants the process is now entirely online and takes two to four working days.
The one hard requirement
Your mobile number must be linked to your Aadhaar. The online process verifies identity through OTPs sent to that number - a complete application generates three OTPs at different verification stages. If your current number isn't linked to Aadhaar, update it at an Aadhaar centre first; nothing else in the process works without it.
Documents
- Passport-size photograph
- Aadhaar card - with date of birth in dd/mm/yyyy format
- If Aadhaar shows only a year of birth: a 10th or 12th marksheet, or voter ID, as date-of-birth proof
- Signature scan
Where people go wrong
- Name spelled differently on Aadhaar and in the application - match Aadhaar exactly
- Aadhaar with year-only date of birth and no substitute DOB proof attached
- Blurry signature scans that get rejected at verification
- Ignoring the OTP prompts - all three must be completed for the application to go through
After you apply
The e-PAN arrives by email first; the physical card follows by post to your Aadhaar address. For most purposes - KYC, account opening, tax filing - the e-PAN is accepted immediately, so you rarely need to wait for the plastic card.