How To Surrender Your (Additional) Pan Card? [Having More Than One PAN Is Illegal]

A PAN is a unique 10-digit number allocated to every taxpayer. By law, each person can have only ONE PAN Card. So how do you end up more than one PAN Card?

There may be any of the following reasons for this:

1. When you applied for a new PAN card, by mistake, you would have been allocated more than one PAN.
2. When you apply for a correction in your current PAN card, instead of making the correction in your existing card, by mistake, you might be allocated with a new PAN card.
3. Some people apply and get more than one PAN card for doing illegal stuff.

Now, even if it is not reason #3, having more than one PAN card is illegal, and you could invite a penalty of up to Rs. 10,000. So you must hold only one PAN and surrender or return your additional PAN as soon as you can.

You can surrender your additional PAN either online or offline. Let’s see the steps involved in both of these cases.

How to surrender your additional PAN online?

In order to surrender your additional PAN card online, you need to visit this link – https://www.onlineservices.nsdl.com/paam/endUserRegisterContact.html

This link is nothing but the link to the online PAN card application page. On this page, you need to choose the “Application Type” which is the first section. In this drop-down, choose “Changes or correction in existing PAN”.

Continue to fill the basic details requested in the page. Upon filling the information on the first page, click Next and you will be presented with a reference number. Take note of it.

Then continue to fill in all the details and upload the required documents. Now, in Section 11 of this application form, you need to fill in the details of your additional PAN card (not the primary PAN card that you are currently using).

After filling in all the details, you need to choose to provide document verification. Here, you will have three choices. Aadhar-based eKYC, Digitally signed documents or submission of physical documents. If you choose Aadhar-based eKYC or digitally signed documents option, then you can complete this whole process online.

On the other hand, if you choose the physical documents option, you can only complete this process offline. Once you fill in the application and click submit, you have to submit the following items to your nearest NSDL collection centre (which you can find by googling).

1. A covering letter stating the reason for your surrendering
2. The reference number
3. Copy of the additional PAN card that you are surrendering.

Once you do this, you must receive an acknowledgement/receipt for the submission of the surrender request. Ideally, your additional PAN card should be cancelled in about two weeks and you will get notified about the same.

How to surrender your additional PAN card offline?

To do this process completely offline, you need to download this form – https://www.bankingminutes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/form-for-changes-in-pan.pdf

This is nothing but the same form that appears in the online option. Fill out this form by entering all the basic details. Here too, in Section 11 of the form, enter the details of the additional PAN card that you are attempting to surrender.

Now, submit this form along with a copy of your additional PAN card and copies of necessary supporting documents for KYC (preferably Aadhar), to your nearest NSDL collection centre.

Just like in the online process, you will be given an acknowledgement number and in about two weeks your additional PAN card should be cancelled.

Even though it might look like a long process, you must surrender your additional PAN Card as soon as you come to know that you hold an additional one.