PINCODE

India is a country of huge land mass with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometers. It is the seventh largest country in the world. India has many states and union territories. The Postal Index Number Code System, known as the PIN Code system was introduced in India on the 15th of August, 1972.  The objective of PIN Code is to easily locate areas and simplify the sorting of mails, thus speed up their transmission and delivery. PIN Code avoids the confusion which results out of duplication of names of various places. There are currently Nine Postal Zones in India. PIN code of any area or location is a unique 6 digit number which is assigned by Indian Postal System.

How does it work?

Each PIN Code has six digits. There are nine PIN zones in India, including eight regional zones and one functional zone (for the Indian Army). The first digit of the PIN code indicates the region.

The 9 PIN zones cover the Indian states and union territories as follows:

1 - Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh

2 - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

3 - Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

4 - Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

5 - Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka

6 - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep

7 - West Bengal, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Sikkim

8 - Bihar, Jharkhand

9 - Army Post office (APO) and Field post office (FPO)

 > Second & Third digits indicate the sub-zone and sorting district.

> Fourth digit indicates the route on which the sorting office is located.

> Fifth & Sixth digits indicate the number assigned to the delivery Post Office.

Delivery System

Each PIN code is mapped to exactly one delivery post office which receives all the mail to be delivered to one or more lower offices within its jurisdiction, all of which share the same code. The delivery office can either be a General Post Office (GPO), a Head Office (HO) or Sub Office (SO) which are usually located in urban areas. The post from the delivery office is sorted and routed to other delivery offices for a different PIN or to one of the relevant sub offices or branch offices for the same PIN. Branch offices (BO) are located in rural areas and have limited postal services.