Verify your PAN card — confirming validity and details in 2026

There are two questions behind "is my PAN valid?":

• Is the PAN active in the Income Tax Department's system — can it be used for tax, bank and property transactions?
• Do the details (name, date of birth, photograph, signature, father's name, address) recorded against the PAN match reality?

Both can be answered from the Income Tax e-Filing portal without login. The old incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in URL has been retired — the current portal is incometax.gov.in, with all Know-Your-PAN-style services reworked after the 2021 redesign. This page walks through what to check and how to read the result.

What "valid" means in 2026

A PAN can be in one of several states:

• Active / Operative — the normal state. The PAN works for filing returns, banking, investing, property, DTAA, everything.
• Inoperative — introduced on 1 July 2023 for residents who failed to link Aadhaar. Blocks refunds, triggers higher TDS under Section 206AA, flags with banks and brokers. See PAN without Aadhaar for the NRI / OCI carve-out and the fix if your PAN has been wrongly flagged.
• Deactivated — for duplicate PANs, PANs of deceased persons, or PANs identified as fraudulent. Cannot be restored without a fresh application.
• Fake — PAN numbers produced by fraudulent agents that never existed in the database. Common in rental / job scam contexts.

Verification catches all four states.

The core tools on the e-Filing portal

Go to incometax.gov.in. The pre-login menu has a dedicated section — Quick Links or Services — with the tools below. No login required for any of them.

Verify PAN

Enter:

• PAN (10-character alphanumeric).
• Full name (as on the PAN).
• Date of birth.
• Mobile number — receives an OTP.

Result:

• "PAN is Active and details are matching with PAN database" — the PAN is valid and the details you entered match what the Department has on file.
• "PAN is inoperative" — flagged under the Aadhaar-linkage rule.
• "Details are not matching" — the PAN exists but the name / DOB you entered do not match — suggests the PAN holder's actual name or DOB is different, or the PAN is not theirs.
• "PAN does not exist" — the number has never been issued.

Link Aadhaar Status

Enter PAN and Aadhaar number (or just PAN if checking linkage existence). Result confirms whether:

• Aadhaar has been linked with the PAN.
• If linked, whether the PAN is operative.

For NRIs, this is the first port of call if a bank or broker is asking about inoperative status.

Know Your AO

Enter PAN. The service returns:

• The name and code of the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer assigned to the PAN.
• The Range, Circle, Ward, Office address, phone.

Useful when filing declarations (NRI status, address change, lower-TDS certificates) — the paper route goes to this officer.

Instant e-PAN — Check Status / Download

For PANs issued via the instant Aadhaar route. Enter acknowledgement number; download the e-PAN PDF.

Verifying the physical card — the QR code

Every PAN card issued since 2018 carries a QR code containing the holder's name, father's name, date of birth and photograph — signed by the Income Tax Department.

• Scan the QR code with any QR scanner (the "QR Code Reader" Android / iOS apps published by NSDL and UTIITSL read the encrypted data).
• The scanner returns the signed details — if the decrypted content matches what is printed on the card, the card is genuine.
• If the content does not match the print, the card has been tampered with (common in agent fraud where the printed name has been altered after issue).

QR verification does not require internet — the signature check is cryptographic and local to the scanner app (after the app has been installed / updated).

The NRI friction — mobile OTP from abroad

The Verify PAN service sends an OTP to the mobile number entered. Two operational issues for NRIs:

• Foreign mobile numbers — the portal accepts them; OTP is sent via SMS to the foreign number. Delivery is generally reliable but depends on carrier support for Indian- originated SMS.
• Indian mobile last-active while in India — still receives OTP abroad if the SIM is in roaming; many NRIs keep their Indian number active with a token recharge specifically for this.

If the OTP does not arrive:

• Check spam / promotional folder (sometimes classified as transactional SMS under your carrier's settings).
• Retry after a few minutes.
• For Indian-number issues, confirm roaming is active on the SIM.
• As a fallback, use the Aadhaar-based OTP option on the portal if the PAN is Aadhaar- linked.

Third-party PAN verification

Banks, registrars, employers and brokers verify PANs in bulk through paid NSDL services or through the e-Filing portal's API-based PAN verification service for enrolled entities. An individual cannot use the bulk route.

For a private check — for example, verifying a prospective buyer's or tenant's PAN before a large transaction — the Verify PAN pre-login service is the only authorised route for individuals.

If the PAN is valid but the details are wrong

A PAN in the Department's system with incorrect recorded details (spelling of name, date of birth, father's name, address) can be corrected without changing the PAN number. Route:

• File a PAN Correction Application online on the Protean (NSDL) or UTIITSL portal.
• Attach proof documents for the fields you are correcting (passport for name / DOB, government ID with address for address, etc.).
• Pay the standard reprint fee (~₹107 Indian dispatch / ~₹1,017 foreign dispatch).
• Receive updated card and / or e-PAN.

Specific pages:

• Change of address on PAN
• Replace a lost PAN when you don't know the number

If the PAN is inactive / inoperative

For residents — link the Aadhaar; pay the ₹1,000 late-linking fee; PAN becomes operative within 30 days.

For NRIs wrongly flagged — file a PAN correction application updating residential status to non-resident, with passport and overseas address proofs; follow up with the Jurisdictional AO if the flag persists. See PAN without Aadhaar for the full mechanics.

If the PAN is fake

Agent fraud is a recurring problem — applicants pay cash to a "consultant" who produces a card that is never in the Department's database. Indicators:

• PAN does not appear on Verify PAN.
• QR code on the card does not scan, or scans to garbage.
• The card has no hologram, wrong colour, or unusual typography.
• The "agent" offered the card suspiciously quickly (1–2 days) for a cash fee disproportionate to the official ₹107.

If discovered, do not use the fake card. File a fresh PAN application via the official route. Some applicants also report the fraud to the nearest police station and the Income Tax Department, though enforcement is inconsistent.

Common pitfalls

• Entering the wrong mobile number — OTP never arrives; verification fails. Double-check the country code for foreign numbers.
• Name mismatch on verification. PAN stores the name in a specific format (first / middle / surname); entering it differently causes a "not matching" result even when the PAN is valid.
• Relying on an agent's word that the PAN is valid. Always verify independently at incometax.gov.in.
• Assuming QR mismatch means the PAN is fake. The QR data reflects what the Department printed originally; a post-print name change that was never reprinted shows up as QR mismatch even for a genuine PAN.
• Sharing the Verify PAN result URL / screenshot openly. The result page contains partial personal data; treat it as sensitive.
• Believing a PAN card with no QR is necessarily old or fake. PAN cards issued before 2018 did not have QR codes and are still genuine — they just require name-based verification instead.
• Confusing "PAN inoperative" with "PAN deactivated". Inoperative is reversible (link Aadhaar or update NRI status); deactivated usually is not (duplicate, deceased, fraud).
• Forgetting to update counterparties after a correction. The Department's record is fixed; the bank / broker / employer still has the old data until you push the update to them.

Checklist — verifying a PAN

1. Go to incometax.gov.in. Do not use a search- engine sponsored result; it may be a fraud portal.
2. Pre-login → Verify PAN.
3. Enter PAN, name, DOB, mobile. Receive OTP, submit.
4. Read the status message.
5. If details are wrong, file a PAN correction application on Protean / UTIITSL.
6. If the PAN is inoperative, check the linkage route and the NRI exemption.
7. If the PAN does not exist, treat the card as fake and file for a fresh PAN.
8. For physical-card check, scan the QR code with the NSDL or UTIITSL QR reader app; compare to printed data.
9. For the jurisdictional AO, use Know Your AO on the same portal.
10. Update downstream counterparties with the verified status.

Summary

• The current portal for PAN verification is incometax.gov.in (the old incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in URL is retired).
• Verify PAN — pre-login service that confirms active status and name / DOB match.
• Link Aadhaar Status — confirms linkage and operative status.
• QR code on physical PAN cards (2018+) cryptographically authenticates the card.
• Mobile OTP is the main friction point for NRIs verifying from abroad — foreign numbers work, but Indian SIM with active roaming is the more reliable option.
• Know Your AO returns the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer for paper declarations.
• Corrections — name, DOB, address — use the PAN correction application without changing the PAN number; fake PANs require a fresh application via the official route.

For the Aadhaar-linkage carve-out and the NRI- wrongly-marked-inoperative fix, see PAN without Aadhaar. For the address-correction flow, see change of address on PAN. For the overall PAN framework, see PAN card — how to apply.