Gangtok, July 23: After traders of Sikkim had the Importer Exporter Code (IEC) waived, another good news awaits them ? they will not need a permanent account number (PAN), ever.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has exempted all categories of investors of Sikkim from the mandatory requirement of obtaining a PAN. This was declared in a circular issued by V.S. Sundaresan, the general manager of the market regulation department of Sebi, on Friday.

Trade at Nathu-la was disrupted immediately after it was inaugurated on July 6, since customs officials had demanded that the businessmen must have an IEC. To obtain an IEC, traders were supposed to possess PAN.

Before the implementation of Sebi regulations on PAN, the Sikkim chamber of commerce had requested that the hill state be exempted of the PAN rule, since it did not fall under the purview of the central income tax and direct tax laws. ?We are glad that the board has granted that traders in Sikkim can conduct business without PAN,? S.K. Sarda, the president of the chamber of the commerce, told The Telegraph. ?The exemption was not meant for traders only but for all investors residing in Sikkim.?

According to the Sebi regulations, every investor had to have a PAN card if he wanted to open and operate a DEMAT account in any bank in Sikkim. It was further notified that the existing account-holders would not be able to operate their accounts if they failed to produce a PAN card by September 30, 2006. ?Realising that all demat accounts will be suspended for debit after that date, the Sikkim chamber of commerce took up the matter with central officials,? Sarda added.