All about pre-validate bank account on Income Tax Website

FAQs on pre-validate bank account on Income Tax Website

Q.1 Why do I need to pre-validate my bank account(s)?

Ans. Only a pre-validated bank account can be nominated to receive Income Tax refund.

Further, a pre-validated bank account may also be used by the individual taxpayer for enabling EVC (electronic verification code) for e-Verification purpose. e-Verification can be used for Income Tax Returns and other Forms, e-Proceedings, Refund Reissue, Reset Password and secured login to e-Filing account.

Q.2 Can a non-individual taxpayer use EVC for e-Verification?

Ans.  Enabling or disabling EVC is applicable only to individual taxpayers. Other categories of taxpayers cannot use their pre-validated bank account for generating EVC to e-Verify their Income Tax Returns and Forms.

Q.3 Can I validate and nominate multiple bank accounts for refund?

Ans.   Yes. You can pre-validate multiple bank accounts, and can nominate more than one bank account for Income Tax refund.

Q.4 Can I nominate one bank account for Income Tax refund, and EVC-enable a separate bank account?

Ans.   Yes, but both bank accounts should have the status Validated.

Q.5 Can EVC be enabled for multiple bank accounts?

Ans.   No. EVC can be enabled for only one bank account at any point of time. If you try to enable EVC for another pre-validated account, then a message will be displayed, asking for your confirmation to disable EVC for the existing account. Accordingly, either one of the bank accounts will be EVC enabled.

Note: EVC can be enabled only for banks integrated with e-Filing. The list of e-Filing integrated banks can be found on the Login with Net Banking page.

Q.6 What are the prerequisites for a successful pre-validation?

Ans.   For successful pre-validation, you must have a valid PAN registered with e-Filing, and an active bank account linked with the PAN.

Q.7 How do I know that the pre-validation is successful? What should I do if it is unsuccessful?

Ans.   The status of the validation request will be sent to your mobile number and email ID registered with the e-Filing portal. If the validation fails, the details are displayed under Failed Bank Accounts. The failed bank accounts can be re-submitted for validation in case of failed bank pre-validation: Click Re-Validate for the bank in the Failed Bank Accounts section.

Q.8 Can I pre-validate my Loan / PPF account?

Ans.   No. You can only pre-validate the following accounts for refund:

• Saving Bank Accounts,
• Current Accounts,
• Cash Credit Accounts,
• Over Draft Account,
• NRO Account.

If you try pre-validating any other account type, the bank validation will fail, and the system will display an Invalid Account error.

Q.9 What will happen if I change my mobile number / email ID registered with the bank, which I have already pre-validated?

Ans.   In such a case, you will see a ! warning symbol next to your mismatched contact details (mobile number / email ID) in your Added Bank Accounts section. If you wish to EVC-enable that bank account, you will need to update your contact details on the e-Filing portal to match your details registered with the bank.

Q.10 How much time does it take to pre-validate my bank account once I have submitted my details?

Ans.   The pre-validation process is automatic. Once your request is submitted, it is sent to your bank. The validation status is updated in your e-Filing account within 10 – 12 working days.

Manual on pre-validate bank account on Income Tax Website

1. Overview

The My Bank Account service is available to all registered taxpayers on the e-Filing portal (post-login), who have a valid PAN and a valid bank account. This service allows you to:

• Add a bank account and pre-validate it
• Remove a closed or deactivated bank account
• Nominate a validated bank account to receive Income Tax refund
• Remove a bank account from nomination so as not to receive tax refund in that account
• Enable or disable EVC for the validated bank account (only for individual taxpayers)
• Revalidate bank accounts for which pre-validation has failed

2. Prerequisites for availing this service 

• Registered user on the e-Filing portal with valid user ID and password
• PAN must be linked with the bank account which is to be pre-validated
• Active bank account:
  • linked with PAN
  • linked with registered mobile number (mandatory) and email ID (optional)
• Valid mobile number:
  • registered with e-Filing
  • linked with active bank account

3. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID and password.

Step 2:  Go to the My Profile page from the Dashboard.

Step 3: Click My Bank Account. 

On the My Bank Accounts page, the Added, Failed and Removed Bank Accounts tabs will be displayed.

To learn how to use the different facilities under the My Bank Account service, refer to the following sections:

Add and Pre-Validate a Bank Account	Refer to Section 3.1
Remove a Bank Account	Refer to Section 3.2
Nominate or Remove Bank Account from Nomination for Refund	Refer to Section 3.3
Enable and Disable EVC	Refer to Section 3.4
Re-Validate a Bank Account	Refer to Section 3.5

3.1 Add and Pre-Validate a Bank Account

A. By logging in to the e-Filing portal using PAN / Aadhaar

Step 1: On the My Bank Accounts page, click Add Bank Account.

Step 2: On the Add Bank Account page, enter the Bank Account Number, Account Type and Holder Type, and IFSC. Bank Name and Branch get auto-populated based on IFSC. Your mobile number and email ID will be pre-filled from your e-Filing profile, and will not be editable.

Step 3: Click Validate.

On successful validation, a success message is displayed. You will also receive a message on your mobile number and email ID registered on the e-Filing portal.

B. By logging in to the e-Filing portal using Net Banking

Step 1:  Log in to the e-Filing portal using your Net Banking account.

Step 2: On login through Net Banking, the e-Filing portal will verify if the bank account used for login exists under the Added Bank Accounts tab. If the bank account is not already added, a confirmation message with the masked account number and IFSC is displayed, asking you to confirm if you want to add the account to e-Filing portal. Click Continue.

On confirmation (for both methods A and B), the bank account details are included under the Added Bank Accounts tab with the status as follows:

• Validated(if EVC is enabled for any existing bank account) OR
• Validated and EVC enabled(if PAN, Account Number, IFSC, and mobile number are successfully validated by the bank, and if EVC is not enabled for any other bank account).

3.2 Remove Bank Account

Step 1: Click Remove Bank Account under the Action column for the desired bank account.

Step 2: Select a reason from the dropdown for removing the bank account. If you select Others, enter the reason in the textbox and click Continue.

On successful removal of the bank account, a success message is displayed.

 3.3 Nominate or Remove Bank Account from Nomination for Refund

A. Nominate a bank account for refund

Step 1: To nominate a bank account for refund, click the Nominate for Refund toggle / switch (the switch will be positioned on the left) for the bank account you wish to nominate for refund.

Step 2: Click Continue to confirm that you want to nominate the selected bank account.

On success, the switch will move to the right.

B. Remove a bank account from nomination for refund

Step 1: To remove a bank account that is nominated for refund, click the Nominate for Refund toggle / switch (it will be positioned on the right) for the bank account you wish to remove from nomination.

Step 2: Click Continue to confirm that you want to remove nomination of the selected bank account.

On success, the switch will move to the left.

3.4 Enable and Disable EVC

A. Enable EVC

Step 1: Click Enable EVC under the Actions column on the bank account for you wish to enable EVC.

Step 2: A confirmation message is displayed. Click Continue.

Note: 

• EVC can be enabled for a validated bank account only if the following conditions are fulfilled:
  • Your mobile number (mandatory) and email ID (optional) should be verified by the bank.
  • Your mobile number registered with e-Filing should the same as the one verified by the bank. To ensure they match, either update your mobile number in your e-Filing profile to be the same as the one linked with the bank, or update your mobile number with your bank to be the same as the one in your e-Filing profile.
  • EVC should not be enabled for any other bank account.
  • Your bank should be integrated with e-Filing. The list of banks integrated with e-Filing can be found on the e-Filing Login with Net Banking
• If you wish to only pre-validate your bank account and not enable EVC, your e-Filing mobile or email do not need to match the contact details verified by your bank.

If the above conditions are fulfilled, EVC is successfully enabled for the selected bank account, and the status is updated to Validated and EVC enabled:

Step 3: If EVC is already enabled for one bank account, and you try to enable EVC for another bank account, a message is displayed notifying you of the same. Click Continue in the message, and EVC will be enabled for the bank account if the conditions specified in Step 2 are fulfilled. In such a case, EVC will be disabled for the bank account that was previously enabled.

Note: If you click Cancel or close the message, EVC will remain enabled for the existing bank account.

B. Disable EVC

Step 1: Click Disable EVC under the Actions column on the bank account for which you wish to disable EVC.

Step 2: A confirmation message is displayed. Click Continue.

On success, EVC is disabled for selected account, and the status is updated to Validated.

3.5 Re-Validate Bank Account

Step 1: In case the validation for a bank account failed earlier, you will see its details under the Failed Bank Accounts tab. Click Re-Validate under the Action column for the bank account you need to revalidate.

Step 2: On the Add Bank Account page, your details will be pre-filled. Update the details if necessary.

Step 3: Click Validate.

On success, the bank account is added under the Added Bank Accounts tab, and the status is updated to Validation in progress.

Then, your contact details are verified with the bank details. If the details are verified by the bank, your bank account gets validated. You can check the validation status in the Status column of the Added Bank Accounts tab.

If the validation still fails, take the following action based on the reason of failure (for integrated banks):

Reason for Failure	Action to be Taken
PAN not linked with bank account	Contact branch to link your PAN with the bank account, then click Re-Validate to submit request. Contact branch for further information.
Name mismatch	Contact branch to update the name as per PAN. Then, re-validate, update the details and submit request for re-validation.
Bank Account Number mismatch	Click Re-Validate, enter the correct bank account number and submit the request for re-validation.
Account number does not exist	Click Re-Validate, enter the correct bank account number and submit the request for re-validation.
Invalid IFSC	Click Re-Validate, enter the correct IFSC and submit the request for re-validation.
Bank account closed / inactive	Click Re-Validate, and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.
Bank account dormant	Click Re-Validate, and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.

In case an account is held in one of the non-integrated banks, the following action should be taken:

Reason for Failure	Action to be Taken
PAN not linked with bank account	Link the PAN with bank account and click Re-Validate to submit request. Contact your branch for further information.
PAN mismatch	Link the correct PAN to the bank account and click Re-Validate to submit request. Contact your branch for further information.
Invalid account type	Click Re-Validate, select the correct bank account type, and submit the request for validation.
Invalid IFSC	Click on Re-Validate, enter the correct IFSC, and submit the request for validation.
Account closed	Click Re-Validate and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.
Zero balance Account / Inactive account	Click Re-validate and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.
Litigated Account	Click Re-Validate and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.
Account holder name invalid	Click Re-Validate and update the details. Contact branch to update the Name as per PAN.
Account frozen or blocked	Click Re-Validate and try with a different bank account number. Contact your branch for further information.