---
title: "PAN"
url: https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/sdk/python/v1/zia-services/identity-scanner/pan/
description: "This page describes the method to use the PAN document processing feature in your Python application with sample code snippets"
last_updated: 2025-09-16T18:51:08Z
service: Zia Services
type: general
related_links:
  - name: "PAN - API"
    url: /en/api/code-reference/zia-services/identity-scanner/pan/#PAN
  - name: "PAN Help"
    url: /en/zia-services/help/identity-scanner/key-concepts/#model-types
  - name: "SDK Scopes"
    url: /en/sdk/python/v1/sdk-scopes
---

# Identity Scanner

[Identity Scanner](https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/zia-services/help/identity-scanner/introduction) is a Zia AI-driven component that enables you to perform secure identity checks on individuals and documents by scanning and processing various ID proofs or official documents. It is a comprehensive suite that incorporates multiple functionalities divided into two major categories- E-KYC and Document Processing.

> **Note:** Catalyst does not store any of the files you upload in its systems. The documents you upload are used for one-time processing only. They are not used for ML model training purposes either. Catalyst components are fully compliant with all applicable data protection and privacy laws.

#### PAN

The `PAN` model is a part of the Document Processing feature that enables you to process Indian PAN
cards as identity proof documents. This enables you to extract fields of data from a PAN card using an advanced OCR
technology, and return the parameters recognized from the PAN card in the response.

> **Note:**Document Processing is only relevant to Indian users and is **only available in the IN DC**. This feature will not be available to users accessing from the EU, AU, US, JP, SA or CA DCs. Users outside of India from the other DCs can access the [general OCR component](https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/zia-services/help/optical-character-recognition/introduction) to read and process textual content.

You must provide the path to the image file of the front side of the PAN card to the `open()` method, as shown in the code below. This method opens the file and returns the file object as a response.

To know more about the component instance `zia` used below, please refer to [this help section](https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/sdk/python/v1/zia-services/get-component-instance/).

**Allowed file formats:** _.webp_, _.jpeg_, _.png_
 **File size limit:** 15 MB

You must specify the model type as `PAN` using `modelType`. The `PAN` model can only process text in English by default. No other languages are supported.

The response will contain the parameters extracted from the PAN card such as their first name, last name, date of birth, and their PAN card number assigned to the respective keys.

**Parameters Used**

<table class="content-table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th class="w20p">Parameter Name</th>
      <th class="w20p">Data Type</th>
      <th class="w60p">Definition</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
    <tr>
			<td>`img`</td>
      <td>Image</td>
			<td>A **Mandatory** parameter. Will store the image file of the front side of the PAN card.</td>
		</tr>
    <tr>
			<td>`modelType`</td>
      <td>String</td>
			<td>A **Mandatory** parameter. Will store the default value as "PAN".</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

```python
zia = app.zia()
img = open("sample.webp", "rb")
result = zia.extract_optical_characters(img, {"modelType": "PAN"})

```

The response is shown below :

```json
{
   "date_of_birth":"03/04/1982",
   "last_name":"VASUDEV MAHTO",
   "pan":"ANRPM2537J",
   "first_name":"PRAMOD KUMAR MAHTO"
}

```

> **Info :** Refer to the [SDK Scopes table](https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/sdk/python/v1/sdk-scopes) to determine the required permission level for performing the above operation.