In India, the phrase Postal Index Number or PIN, is also sometimes referred to as PIN code. It alludes to the code found in the postal code system’s post office number, which is primarily utilised by India Post to sort mail. The postal index number has a length of six digit. Back in 1972, when Shriram Bhikaji Velankar served as the Union Ministry of Communication’s additional secretary, he instituted this technique of postal address coding.
The primary objective of introducing the PIN-code system in India was to assist the postal department personnel in manually sorting and delivering the mail to the proper address, therefore removing any confusion caused by similarly named locations, inaccurate addresses, and other public-language usages.
Decoding the PIN Structure
The Postal Index Number or PIN consist of six long numerical digits and each of them indicates regions. The first digit denotes the zone the second digit indicates sub-zone the third digit along with the first two will indicate the sorting district within the zone. The last final three digits indicate the individual post offices within the sorting districts. Find your postal codes by entering locality name or by entering pin codes you are able to find post office name from pincodeind.com
Postal Zones in India
There are 9 postal zones in India in which 8 are regional and 1 is dedicated exclusively for Indian Army and is known as functional zone.
The very first digit of the PIN code indicates the zone and is allocated across the 9 zones which are spread across the length and breadth of the country.
First Digit of PIN Code | Zone |
1 | Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh |
2 | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh |
3 | Gujarat, Rajasthan, Diu and Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
4 | Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh |
5 | Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
6 | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry |
7 | Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
8 | Jharkhand, Bihar |
9 | Army Post Office (APO), Field Post Office (FPO) |