look news india
New Delhi/Patna/Lucknow (Business Desk): In today’s digital era, if any document is most important after Aadhar Card, it is ‘PAN Card – Permanent Account Number’. Be it opening a new account in the bank, investing in the stock market or mutual fund, buying property or filing income tax return, no financial work can be completed without a PAN card. Nowadays, from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh to Delhi and Mumbai, parents get ‘Minor PAN Card’ made in the name of their children to invest in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Fixed Deposit (FD) or share market. But do you know that when the child turns 18 years old i.e. an adult, his old minor PAN card is no longer completely valid for official and legal purposes? Yes, according to the rules of the Income Tax Department, it is mandatory to update the Minor PAN card to ‘Major PAN Card’ as soon as you complete 18 years of age. Let us understand in detail in this special report whose photo is on the PAN card of children and how it can be updated online from home when they become adults.
Why there is no photo and signature on Minor PAN card? understand the rules
Often people have this misconception that the photo of their parents is printed on the PAN card of children below 18 years of age, whereas the reality is completely different from this. According to the rules of the Income Tax Department, when a minor PAN card is made for a minor (below 18 years of age), neither the photo of the child nor the photo of the parents is printed on that card. The photo space on the card remains blank or clearly states ‘Minor’. Similarly, instead of the signature of the child, it bears the signature of his parents or legal guardian (Representative Assessee), because a minor child is not legally authorized to sign any financial document himself. This is the reason why this minor PAN card cannot be used as a valid ‘Photo Identity Proof’ for any government work or Bank KYC. As soon as the youth crosses the threshold of 18 years, he has to update his latest photograph and his own signature on his PAN card.
Does updating PAN number change after turning 18?
Whenever a youth goes to update his minor PAN card to major PAN card, the biggest question in his mind is whether his 10 digit alphanumeric PAN number will change when the new card is made? So the simple and obvious answer is – absolutely not! The Income Tax Department issues only one PAN number to an individual for the lifetime. When you update your PAN card (PAN Card Correction/Update) when you turn 18, your old PAN number remains the same. The only change is that your parents are removed from the department’s database as ‘Representative’ and your own passport size photograph and your own digital signature are printed on the new plastic PVC card, after which it becomes a valid ID proof for life.
What documents are required to convert minor PAN card to major?
If you or your child has completed 18 years of age, then before starting the process of updating PAN card, scan and keep some important documents with you. In this, Proof of Identity, Proof of Address and Proof of Date of Birth are required. The easiest and most commonly accepted document for these three is your updated ‘Aadhaar Card’. Apart from this, you can also use Voter ID card, driving license, passport, 10th class mark sheet (for date of birth), bank passbook or residence certificate. Also, you will need two fresh color passport size photographs and a scanned copy of your clear signature made with black or blue pen on a white paper (in JPEG format) and a copy of the old minor PAN card.
Step-by-step process to update minor PAN card online at home
To update minor PAN card to major, you do not need to visit any government office or agent. You can update it from your smartphone or laptop sitting at home through the official website of NSDL (now Protean) or UTIITSL in just 10 minutes. For this, first of all go to the portal of Protean (onlineservices.nsdl.com). There go to ‘Application Type’ and select the option of ‘Changes or Correction in existing PAN Data’. After this, select ‘Individual’ in ‘Category’ and enter your full name, date of birth, email ID, mobile number and your old PAN number and submit. Now a token number will be generated on your screen, proceed through it and select the option of ‘Submit scanned images through e-Sign’. Going down in the form, you will see two boxes ‘Photo Mismatch’ and ‘Signature Mismatch’, do not forget to tick both of them. After this upload your latest photo, signature and PDF of Aadhar card.
How much will the fees cost and in how many days will the new PAN card reach home?
After uploading all the documents and photo-signature, you will have to submit the form and pay the fee online. If you want to order your physical PAN card at the address of any state or city of India, then for this you will have to make only online payment (through UPI, debit card or net banking) of around Rs 107 to Rs 110. After successful payment, an OTP will come on the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar, due to which your form will be e-verified. After this you will get a 15 digit Acknowledgment Number, through which you can track the status of your PAN card. Within just 3 to 5 days of application, the new ‘e-PAN’ will be sent to your email ID in PDF format, and within about 15 to 20 days, the shiny new major PAN card will be delivered to your home address through speed post.