A permanent Account Number or PAN is likely to become the only identification needed for seeking different clearances and approvals from the central or state departments for your business. It is also being considered by the government to allow businesses to use the PAN instead of other data as a unique identifier for entering into the National Single Window System (NSWS) for such approvals.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal quoted, “We are moving towards using one of the existing databases as the entry point, which is already available with the government…and most probably that will be the PAN number. So with the PAN, a lot of the basic data about the company, its directors, addresses, and a lot of common data is already available in the PAN database.” while announcing the same. Currently, more than 13 different business IDs like EPFO, ESIC, GSTN, TIN, TAN, and PAN, are in use for similar jobs.
What is National Single Window System?
The NSWS platform was soft-launched in September 2021 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is a one-stop digital platform initiative that promises to allow investors to apply for various pre-operations approvals required for commencing a business in the country and thus making the business registration process easier by allowing people to get significant approvals online. Individuals can avail of services with just a click without having to run to the government offices for approvals. It is a complete well-built software for the identification, application, and subsequent tracking of approvals for all integrated states and central departments.
Till now, 19 states/Union Territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Karnataka, and 27 central government departments are already on board.
What is PAN?
PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric code issued to all taxpayers. It is issued by the Income Tax Department of India to uniquely identify taxpayers. A PAN card is considered a very important document required for paying income tax, filing income tax returns, opening of Bank account or Demat account, applying for a debit or credit card, etc.
The concept of ePAN was later brought up after an increase in the number of people applying for PANs was seen. E-Pan can be obtained free of cost in just a few minutes in soft copy format. It is issued in an electronic format by using Aadhaar and e-KYC and is considered the same as the physical form of an actual PAN card. It is up to you whether you want a physical PAN card or an electronic version of PAN. Both PAN and e-PAN are valid and have the same features and functionalities. The only difference is that one is a physical card, and the other is a soft copy.
All applicants must follow the eligibility criteria given before applying for a PAN card:-
➔ Applicants who already have a PAN card cannot apply for it again.
➔ PAN card facility is only available for the residents of India
➔ Applicants must be 18 years of age.
➔ Pan card services are applicable for Individuals, HUF, Firms, Trusts, and Companies.
➔ The applicant must possess an Aadhar card number that must be linked with an active mobile number.
➔ For availing of this facility, you will have to ensure that you have registered your mobile number in the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) database.
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Conclusion
With the implementation of NSWS, businesses will get everything they need in one place without having to go to Ministries, Departments, or States. They can simply use the intelligent questionnaire provided by the portal to easily find out which approvals are according to their business requirements. It also will provide support and strength to other schemes e.g. Make in India, Startup India, PLI scheme, etc by quick resolution of queries.
Now, the usage of PAN numbers will help auto-populate other application forms which will be received in the system and will help speed up the approval process, thus encouraging more businesses to avail the facilities on the system.
