Tax, Money & Pension
Get a free instant e-PAN using Aadhaar
If you have never had a PAN and your Aadhaar is linked to an active mobile number, you can get a digitally signed PAN free of cost in about ten minutes. Here is the exact process.
Instant e-PAN is one of the best-kept secrets on the income tax portal. It is free, it needs no form, no agent and no document upload, and it produces a digitally signed PAN that is valid everywhere a physical card is.
It is only for people who do not already have a PAN. If you already hold one, applying again is an offence — a person may hold only one PAN. Use the correction process instead.
Before you start
- A valid Aadhaar number, with an active mobile number linked to it.
- A DigiLocker account, or willingness to create one during the process — the portal fetches your date of birth proof from DigiLocker.
- You must be an individual, not a minor, and not a representative assessee.
Step by step
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Open the e-PAN service
On incometax.gov.in, find Instant e-PAN under Quick Links. This is a pre-login service — you do not need an account. Click Get New e-PAN.
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Enter your Aadhaar and consent
Type your 12-digit Aadhaar number and accept the declaration. Verify the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-registered mobile.
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Complete the DigiLocker step
You are redirected to DigiLocker to fetch a date-of-birth proof. Allow the specific document to be shared with the Income Tax Department. Make sure the document has already been fetched into your DigiLocker from the issuing authority before you start — an empty DigiLocker stalls the process here.
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Do not refresh or navigate away
Consent given mid-process is invalidated by a refresh, and you have to start over. Let each screen finish.
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Validate your details and submit
The portal shows the name, date of birth and address it has pulled from Aadhaar. Confirm and submit. You get an acknowledgement number.
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Download the e-PAN
Come back to the same Instant e-PAN page and choose Check Status / Download PAN. Enter your Aadhaar, verify OTP, and download the PDF. It is usually ready within minutes.
Fees, timelines and key facts
| Cost | Free |
|---|---|
| Time | Typically under ten minutes |
| Who can use it | Individuals with no existing PAN, not minors, not representative assessees |
| Requirement | Aadhaar linked to an active mobile, plus DigiLocker access |
| Output | A digitally signed PDF e-PAN, valid as PAN |
| Physical card | Optional and separately chargeable through Protean or UTIITSL |
If something goes wrong
You already have a PAN
The service will refuse. Holding two PANs is an offence — if you have accidentally been issued a second one, surrender it through the department rather than using it.
DigiLocker has no date-of-birth document
Fetch one first — a class X certificate, driving licence or passport pulled directly from the issuing authority into DigiLocker. A self-uploaded scan will not work.
The name in Aadhaar has a spelling error
Fix the Aadhaar record first. The PAN will be created with whatever Aadhaar holds, and correcting it afterwards is slower than correcting Aadhaar now.
Questions people ask
Is instant e-PAN really free?
Yes. The Income Tax Department charges nothing for it. Any website charging you for an 'instant PAN service' is reselling a free government facility.
Is an e-PAN valid without a physical card?
Yes. It carries a digital signature and is accepted for banking, investments and filing. A physical card is optional.
Can I get an e-PAN for my child?
No. Minors are excluded from the instant e-PAN route and must apply through the regular PAN application process.
How is this different from applying through Protean or UTIITSL?
Those are the paid, full application routes that also issue a physical card and handle cases the instant route cannot — minors, companies, foreign applicants and corrections.
Official pages for this task
These are the only sites that can actually do this for you. Everything else is a middleman.