Pan 2.0: Top 8 things to know — Check what are the upgraded features, who should apply, and other details here

The Cabinet on November 25 approved the Income-Tax Department's Pan 2.0 plans to create a fully paperless and online system in the country, according to an official statement.

The plan was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pan 2.0 is expected to cater to demands of businesses, focus on efficient grievance redressal, and provide better cybersecurity.

Making the announcement, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “PAN card is part of our life which is important for the middle class and small business, it has been highly upgraded and PAN 2.0 has been approved today. The existing system will be upgraded and the digital backbone will be brought in a new way…”

Here Are Top 8 Things to Know About PAN 2.0

• How much investment? The government has pledged ₹1,435 crore for the Pan 2.0 project.
• What is the aim? As per the statement, the government aims to bring tech-driven transformation for taxpayers' registration services while giving certain benefits to the people.
• What are the benefits? This involves ease of access, speedy service delivery with improved quality, a single source of truth and data consistency, eco-friendly processes and cost optimisation, and security and optimisation of infrastructure for greater agility, it added.

• What's the upgrade? The new system aims to upgrade the current PAN/TAN 1.0 eco-system, consolidating the core and non-core PAN/TAN activities and the PAN validation service, as per the official release.
• Why the upgrade? The government aims to enable the Pan 2.0 project under Digital India, which will make PAN eligible as a common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies.
• What's the focus? According to Vaishnaw, the government aims to focus on the “grievance redressal system” aspect, which will cater to the queries and the needs of users.

• What's the current status? At present, a total of 78 crore PAN cards have been issued, 98 per cent of which are held by individuals.
• Who needs to apply? Existing PAN card holders will not need to change anything or apply for new cards, according to Vaishnaw.