How does Indian PIN code system work?

Postal Index Number (PIN) code is a six digit number which was introduced on August 15, 1972 and appears in almost all postal articles. Though PIN code has not received much respect in the recent times with more private courier companies coming into picture and stressing more on providing phone number than PIN code, it is indeed one of the most important piece of information which ensures your package reaches the correct location. So it may not be wrong to say that the PIN code is as important to a letter as is a steering wheel to a car!!!

 

How does a PIN code work?

The PIN code system works on a coding system wherein each number represents a particular place and the combination of these letters determine the location to which the package is to be delivered.

The entire country has been divided into nine zones including eight regional zones and one functional zone, which is provided below:

Number	Region	States Covered
1	Northern	Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
2	Northern	Northern Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal
3	Western	Western Rajasthan and Gujarat
4	Western	Western Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
5	Southern	Southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
6	Southern	Southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu
7	Eastern	Eastern West Bengal, Orissa and North Eastern
8	Eastern	Eastern Bihar & Jharkhand
9		Army Post office(APO) and Field Post office(FPO)

The first digit indicates one of these zones / region.

First 2/3 Digits of PIN	Circle
11	Delhi
12 and 13	Haryana
14 to 16	Punjab
17	Himachal Pradesh
18 to 19	Jammu & Kashmir
20 to 28	Uttar Pradesh
30 to 34	Rajasthan
36 to 39	Gujarat
40 to 44	Maharashtra
45 to 48	Madhya Pradesh
49	Chattisgarh
50 to 53	Andhra Pradesh
56 to 59	Karnataka
60 to 64	Tamil Nadu
67 to 69	Kerala
682	Lakshadweep (Islands)
70 to 74	West Bengal
744	Andaman & Nicobar Islands
75 to 77	Orissa
78	Assam
79	North Eastern
793, 794, 783123	Meghalaya
795	Manipur
796	Mizoram
799	Tripura
80 to 85	Bihar

The second digit indicates the sub-region, and the third digit indicates the sorting district within the region.

The next three digits will indicate the particular post office where the letter is to be delivered.

The first 3 digits together will indicate the sorting or revenue district where the letter is to be basically routed. The last 3 digits refer to the actual post office where the article is to be finally delivered.

Example:

The PIN code for the Press Information Bureau in Madurai is 625 020. Here the first digit 6 again stands for the PIN zone – Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. The next two digits – 25 – represent the District of Madurai, while the two final digits -20 - together represents the post office of Gandhi nagar, the delivery post office for PIB, Madurai!
Here it is also important to note that the number given to the Gandhi nagar post office in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu is unique. No other post office in India will have this number. A check with the post PIN code directory will reveal that the delivery post offices in Mathura – the holy city in Uttar Pradesh (UP) – with which the temple city of Madurai is likely to be confused has a completely different PIN code – 281 001. Two stands for the PIN zone consisting of UP and Uttarkhand; 81 represents the district of Mathura while 001 stands fro Mathura Head Post office.

Source - The Pincode – The “Steering Wheel” of a Letter by Dr. K. Parameswaran. Image from Wikipedia.