PAN card status check Protean UTIITSL

Last reviewed: 1 September 2026.

PAN card status is the live stage of your Instant e-PAN or Form 49A request. Track Instant e-PAN on incometax.gov.in with Aadhaar OTP. Track a Protean or UTIITSL Form 49A with the acknowledgement or coupon printed on your receipt.

On this page

• Instant e-PAN vs Form 49A routes
• Protean and UTIITSL track
• PAN status check flow
• Courier delays and e-PAN download
• RTI if the PAN file is stuck
• FAQ: acknowledgement and e-PAN

Permanent Account Number is allotted under Income-tax Act s.139A. Status lives on the same route you used to apply. The wrong portal returns a blank. That is not a rejection.

Instant e-PAN is a free pre-login service of the Income Tax Department. It is only for an adult who does not already have a PAN. A valid Aadhaar and an Aadhaar-linked mobile are required. Minors and representative assessees cannot use it. The Department FAQ says a physical card is not issued on this route.

Form 49A on Protean or UTIITSL is the paid paper-and-upload path. Use it for a minor, a reprint, a change request, or when Instant e-PAN fails. Apply on one agency. Track on that same agency.

How to apply is on how to apply for PAN card. Name mismatch with Aadhaar is a later KYC problem. Fix that on PAN-Aadhaar name mismatch KYC fix.

PAN status is not a bank KYC screen. It is not Aadhaar itself. It is not Verify PAN Status on the e-Filing homepage.

Verify PAN Status tells you whether an already allotted PAN is operative. Link Aadhaar Status tells you whether PAN and Aadhaar are linked under s.139AA. Those are different jobs. Run them only after you already have a number.

1. Open tin.tin.proteantech.in/pantan/StatusTrack.html. Bookmark this host. The older tin.tin.nsdl.com path is not the page to save.
2. Select application type PAN - New / Change Request.
3. Enter the 15-digit numeric acknowledgement in the box labelled N-.
4. Submit and screenshot the result.

The live form no longer carries the old name-and-date-of-birth search; it takes only the 15-digit acknowledgement. If you lost that number, contact the Protean PAN/TAN helpline below, or the TIN Facilitation Centre where you applied. Do not paste Aadhaar on a third-party “track by name” ad.

Protean eGov was formerly NSDL e-Governance. Blogs still say NSDL. The live status host is Protean.

1. Open trackpan.utiitsl.com/PANONLINE.
2. Enter Application / Coupon Number or the 10-character PAN, not both.
3. Enter Date of Birth / Incorporation as dd/mm/yyyy.
4. Enter captcha and submit.

Coupon and PAN disable each other on the live form. Fill one.

1. Open incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal.
2. Under Quick Links click Instant e-PAN.
3. Click Continue on Check Status / Download e-PAN.
4. Enter the 12-digit Aadhaar. Take the OTP on the Aadhaar-linked mobile.
5. If allotted, use View e-PAN or Download e-PAN.
6. After you have a PAN, register on e-Filing. Then Dashboard, Services, View / Download e-PAN also works.

If the FAQ status is PAN allotment request has failed, switch to Protean or UTIITSL. Do not retry Instant e-PAN if a PAN already exists.

Allotment and plastic delivery are different events. e-PAN is a digitally signed electronic PAN. Banks and employers verify the number. They do not need a laminated card from a courier.

When Protean or UTIITSL shows dispatched, copy the tracking number on that page. Track it on India Post or the courier named there. Do not treat a blog's “15 working days” as a statutory clock. Read the remark on the status page.

If the number is allotted but the envelope never arrives, download e-PAN first. Then request a reprint from the live Protean or UTIITSL form linked on the Instant e-PAN FAQ. Reprint is a separate request. Confirm the fee on that checkout. The Instant e-PAN FAQ checked for this page does not print a reprint rupee figure.

Instant e-PAN never posts a plastic card. The Department FAQ is plain on that point. Anyone selling a “10-minute PAN card” for a fee is not the portal.

Do not copy a third-party table of “Application Received / Documents Verified / In Progress”. Those labels were not printed on the official status HTML last checked for this page. Follow the screen.

Screenshot the Protean, UTIITSL, or Instant e-PAN page with the acknowledgement, coupon, or Aadhaar-masked status.

Protean PAN/TAN queries are listed on the Income Tax e-Filing contact strip: +91-20-27218080, 07:00-23:00, all days. That is the number the Department publishes for NSDL TIN PAN/TAN issuance. Do not use stale “9 AM-6 PM Monday-Saturday” hours from old blogs.

For Instant e-PAN flow issues, the e-Filing contact strip publishes 1800 103 0025 / 1800 419 0025 (08:00-20:00, Monday-Friday). DigiLocker problems go to DigiLocker support. Aadhaar OTP problems go to UIDAI. Helpline 1947 is the UIDAI number. See how to apply for Aadhaar if the mobile on Aadhaar is wrong.

Do not RTI Protean or UTIITSL as the first move. Open Grievance / e-Nivaran on incometax.gov.in. Official categories include Instant e-PAN, PAN Status, and PAN related application with AO. Note the grievance acknowledgement. Unregistered users can file from Contact Us, Grievances.

Find the officer with Know Your JAO at knowYourAO. Only then file RTI to the PIO of the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax or JAO office that Know Your JAO shows.

There is no live Income Tax Ombudsman step on the e-Filing help pages checked for this guide. Do not escalate to a zone ombudsman address from an old circular.

File under RTI Act 2005 s.6(1) only after the e-Nivaran grievance is in. Address it to the Public Information Officer, office of the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax for the jurisdiction that Know Your JAO shows. Enclose the acknowledgement screenshot and the grievance number. The PIO must reply in 30 days under s.7(1). Silence is deemed refusal. First appeal is s.19(1).

1. Current status of PAN or Instant e-PAN request [number] dated [date], including the processing log from receipt to today.
2. Name, designation and office of the official with whom the request is pending, and from which date.
3. If defective or failed: copy of the deficiency or failure reason and the documents still treated as outstanding.
4. If allotted: the date of allotment, whether e-PAN download is enabled, and whether a physical card was requested through the service provider.
5. Action taken on e-Nivaran grievance [number] dated [date] on the e-Filing portal.

Draft with the AI RTI Drafter. If the PIO is silent, use the First Appeal Builder. Fee rules sit in RTI fees by state. The method is in The RTI Playbook.

• Apply and track only on incometax.gov.in, tin.tin.proteantech.in, tinpan.proteantech.in, or trackpan.utiitsl.com. Extra words before those hosts are phishing.
• Instant e-PAN is free on the Department FAQ. Anyone selling a “10-minute PAN” for a fee is not the portal.
• Never share Aadhaar OTP. The Department will not call you to “activate” PAN.
• You cannot use Instant e-PAN to replace a lost PAN. Reprint through Protean or UTIITSL from the live FAQ.
• One PAN per person. If Instant e-PAN fails because Aadhaar is already linked, use Know Your JAO. Do not create a second PAN.

• Tracking a Protean acknowledgement on UTIITSL, or the reverse.
• Treating Verify PAN Status as application tracking.
• Waiting for a courier before downloading e-PAN.
• Filing RTI to “CPIO, CBDT, North Block” for a single acknowledgement.
• Paying an agent to recover a lost acknowledgement. The Protean status page takes only the 15-digit number; use the Protean PAN/TAN helpline instead. Instant e-PAN needs only Aadhaar OTP.

If the number is a 15-digit Protean acknowledgement, use tin.tin.proteantech.in/pantan/StatusTrack.html. Select PAN - New / Change Request. Type the digits in the N- box. Screenshot the label the page prints.

Open Instant e-PAN on incometax.gov.in. Choose Check Status / Download e-PAN. Enter Aadhaar and the OTP. If allotted, use View e-PAN or Download e-PAN. After you register on e-Filing, Dashboard, Services, View / Download e-PAN also works.

The Protean status page now needs the 15-digit acknowledgement, so recover it from the Protean PAN/TAN helpline or the TIN Facilitation Centre where you applied. On UTIITSL, the live form accepts PAN plus date of birth instead of the coupon. For Instant e-PAN, Aadhaar plus OTP is enough. Do not pay a broker to recover the number.

The official FAQ says apply through Protean or UTIITSL. Instant e-PAN is only for a person who has no PAN. If Aadhaar is already linked to a PAN, you cannot take a second Instant e-PAN. Delinking, if needed, goes to the JAO.

Usually it means PAN-Aadhaar is not linked. Open Link Aadhaar / View Status on the e-Filing homepage. The live FAQ states a ₹1,000 fee continues to apply to make the PAN operative by intimating Aadhaar. Confirm exemptions on that FAQ. Name mismatch is a separate fix.

No. First track the correct portal, then e-Nivaran under PAN Status, Instant e-PAN, or PAN related application with AO. RTI, if still needed, goes to the PIO of the Principal Commissioner or JAO that Know Your JAO shows.

The Instant e-PAN FAQ says you are issued e-PAN, not a physical card, on that route. It then points to Protean and UTIITSL reprint links. Open those URLs from the live FAQ so you are on the current form.

Yes. The Department FAQ states e-PAN is a valid form of PAN. Offices that demand only a laminated card should still accept it. Ask for a refusal in writing if they do not.

• How to apply for PAN card
• ITR status check e-filing refund 2026
• PAN-Aadhaar name mismatch KYC fix
• How to apply for Aadhaar
• How to apply guides
• Status check guides
• AI RTI Drafter
• The RTI Playbook

• Income Tax e-Filing portal - incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal Instant e-PAN, Verify PAN Status, Link Aadhaar, e-Nivaran, Know Your JAO
• Instant e-PAN help / FAQ - Instant e-PAN and e-PAN FAQ
• Protean PAN/TAN status - tin.tin.proteantech.in/pantan/StatusTrack.html
• UTIITSL Track PAN - trackpan.utiitsl.com/PANONLINE
• Income-tax Act, 1961 s.139A, s.139AA
• RTI Act 2005 s.6(1), s.7(1), s.19(1)

Reviewed for RTI Wiki by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.