The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the PAN 2.0 project to help taxpayers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired this cabinet. According to its press release, the financial outlay of this project is Rs 1,435 crore. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav revealed that under this project, citizens will receive a free upgrade to their PAN Cards, which will feature a QR code.
Ashwini Vaishnav shared that with the PAN 2.0 plan, the Income Tax Department plans to create a fully paperless system in India. This project would focus on efficient grievance redressal and enhance cybersecurity.
Mr Vaishnav stated in the announcement, “The PAN Card is part of our lives, which is important for the middle class and small businesses. 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…”
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The PAN 2.0 initiative is vital in establishing the Permanent Account Number as a common business identifier across all digital platforms. This project offers several benefits to tax payers through technology-driven transformation of taxpayer registration services, such as:
- Single Source of Truth and Data Consistency.
- iEco-friendly processes and affordable costing.
- Security enhancement and infrastructure optimisation.
- Ease of Access to Speedy Service Delivery with improved quality
Currently, 78 crore PAN cards have been issued, and individuals hold 98% of them. Vaishnaw shared that those with PAN cards right now won’t need to change anything or apply for new cards.
