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Most of us carry some form of ID—driving licence, passport, a government issued ID card, and even a permanent account number (PAN) card. Since such identification documents travel everywhere with you, there is a high chance of losing them. What happens if you lose your PAN card? Remember that the PAN card carries a number—it is essentially an alpha-numeric identity that will continue to be yours even if you lose your PAN card. If you lose the card, there is no need to apply for a new number. Instead, you can just apply for a reprint of the card. This process can also be used for corrections on the printed PAN card.

But in case of loss, the first thing to do is to report the loss to the police in order to safeguard yourself from any misuse arising out of the stolen or lost document. The card has your name, father’s name, PAN number and date of birth printed on it, and these are often used for verification of identity at various places, and also for logging into the income tax website.

Reprinting PAN
The income tax department allows PAN applications through two agencies: NSDL (National Securities Depository Ltd) and UTIITSL (UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Ltd). You can apply for a new PAN or corrections or a reprint of PAN, using the options in the type of application on this page: http://bit.ly/2fI8GuA.

When you select the reprint or corrections option, the first page will ask for basic details such as name, date of birth, email address, mobile phone number and the existing PAN number. When you submit these details and move on to the next page, you will be asked for your Aadhaar or Aadhaar enrollment ID. At this stage, you also have to choose the mode of submission of required documents. You can use the Aadhaar-based eKYC method, or send scanned documents with a digital signature, or send physical documents to the PAN processing office of the income tax department.

If you select the paperless eKYC option through Aadhaar, you are not required to update your address in the subsequent pages where communication address is asked for. In this case, the PAN card will be sent to the address mentioned in your Aadhaar database. However, this form of authentication would mean that you have access to the mobile phone number associated with your Aadhaar as a one-time password (OTP) will be sent to that number. Also, the details given in Aadhaar should exactly match the name, date of birth and gender in the PAN application.

If you select the option to submit scanned documents with an eSign, you will need to submit proof of identity, address and date of birth, and proof of the existing PAN in the subsequent steps of the application.

Similarly, if you use the UTIITSL portal, you can apply for a reprint here: http://bit.ly/2nOrmOV. The UTI portal also allows you to use a copy of an FIR as a proof of existing PAN.

Both these portals can also be used for corrections in name, date of birth or a mismatch of signature or photograph of the PAN holder.