Meaning of Numbers on a PAN Card

In the past, we covered articles to explain the meaning of numbers on a credit card and meaning of numbers on a cheque. Just like a credit card or a cheque leaf, the numbers and alphabets on a PAN card too have a significance. Through this article, we’ll understand the meaning of these alphabets and numbers found on a PAN card.

Meaning of Numbers on a Pan Card

Here is how a PAN card looks like:

Unlike credit cards or cheque leafs, which have only numbers, a PAN Card consists of a 10 digit alphanumeric sequence. Let’s understand what each character of this sequence stands for.

First 3 Characters

The first 3 characters on a PAN card represent an alphabetic series running from AAA to ZZZ.

4th Character

The 4th character represents the status of the PAN holder, which can be one of the following:

• C – Company
• P – Person
• H — HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
• F — Firm
• A — Association of Persons (AOP)
• T — AOP (Trust)
• B — Body of Individuals (BOI)
• L — Local Authority
• J — Artificial Juridical Person
• G — Government

So, an individual will have the 4th character as P.

5th Character

The fifth character of the PAN is the first letter of:

1. the surname in the case the status is “P”, or,
2. the name of the Entity, Trust, Society, Organization, HUF, etc. in all other cases

For e.g., an individual with the name Vivek Kumar Shukla will have S as the fifth character.

6th to 9th Characters

The next four numbers are sequential numbers running from 0001 to 9999.

10th Character

The last digit is an alphabetic check digit which is generated by applying a formula to the preceding nine letters and numbers.

Below is a pictorial representation of the above information to easily explain the meaning of numbers on a PAN card:

Don’t forget to share this interesting piece of information with your friends.

Do you know you can identify if a credit card is fake by doing simple calculation?