The ePAN service will be available free of cost and 'on a near to real time' basis

The Income Tax (I-T) Department will soon begin issuing permanent account numbers (PAN) online using details from the Aadhaar database, reports The Times of India.

The electronic PAN (ePan) facility will be launched within the next few weeks but had conducted a pilot rollout of the feature, issuing 62,000 ePANs over eight days, the report stated.

The service will be available free of cost and 'on a near to real time' basis, an official told the paper.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

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The digitally signed ePAN will have a QR code, which will contain a person’s basic details and photograph, the report added. As a security measure, the information in the QR code will be encrypted, the report quotes an official as saying.

Those applying for a PAN will have to verify their Aadhaar details using a one-time password (OTP). Since individuals’ basic information will be taken from the Aadhaar database, there will be no need to upload documents to provide the details.

“The move is part of greater digitisation of income tax services and aimed at providing the facility without anyone having to visit any office,” an official told the publication.