If your PAN and bank account are still not linked, then this news is useful for you. Taxpayers are also going to benefit from this news. Through this, your income tax refund will be credited to the account sooner than before. Till now, it used to take 15 to 20 days to process the tax refund. But now its time period is expected to decrease. Actually, giving relief to the taxpayers, the government has started a new facility to link PAN and bank account.
NPCI’s New Real-Time Verification System Explained
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has started the facility related to verification of PAN and bank account on income tax e-filing. This facility helps taxpayers in the process of linking PAN and bank account on the income tax e-filing website. In a circular issued by NPCI, it was said that its purpose is to verify PAN details, bank account status and account holder’s identity in real time directly from the Core Banking System (CBS) of banks. This facility was announced in a circular issued on 17 June 2025.
What is the Role of Core Banking System (CBS)?
Taking this initiative forward, NPCI has introduced a new PAN and bank account verification API specifically for government departments. This API will help in verifying PAN details, bank account status and account holder’s name in real time directly from the Core Banking System (CBS) of banks.
CBS will be used for verification
According to the circular of NPCI dated 17 June 2025, this API will be used by government departments for verification of customer’s account details such as PAN verification / account situation verification / name of account holder from their bank CBS (Core Banking System). This is a service provided to the Government of India, so all members have been advised to take necessary steps to implement it on priority basis.
How This Will Speed Up Income Tax Refunds
Experts say that the new facility will make the process of income tax refund and DBT faster and error-free by instantly verifying the PAN and bank account details. This will reduce delays and also reduce the risk of fraud. Banks will have to upgrade their systems to follow NPCI‘s secure API standards, which may involve major operational changes. This will ensure faster and error-free refunds to taxpayers. This change will also reduce system upgrades and cyber security risks.
