Guide · Postal Index Number
How Indian PIN codes work
Every Indian address ends in six digits. Read from left to right, they narrow a letter down from one of nine zones to a single post office. Here is what each digit means, on the map.
- digits
- 6
- digits
- postal zones
- 9
- postal zones
- PIN codes
- 19,586
- PIN codes
The first digit
Nine postal zones
India Post splits the country into eight regional zones, numbered from the north (1) round to the east (8), and a ninth for the Army Postal Service. The first digit of a PIN code is its zone.
Point at a zone to find it on the map. Each dot is a cluster of post offices.
Six digits, four steps
Decode any PIN code
Type a PIN code, then tap a step to see how far each digit narrows the map: zone, postal circle, sorting district and finally the delivery post office, with its official area in red.
The first two digits
Postal circles
The zones are split into 23 postal circles, which mostly follow state borders, and the first two digits name the circle. Big states get a run of numbers: Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand share 20 to 28.
- 11Delhi CircleDelhi
- 12–13Haryana CircleHaryana
- 14–16Punjab CirclePunjab, Chandigarh
- 17Himachal Pradesh CircleHimachal Pradesh
- 18–19Jammu Kashmir CircleJammu and Kashmir, Ladakh
- 20–25Uttar Pradesh CircleUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
- 26Uttarakhand CircleUttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh
- 27–28Uttar Pradesh CircleUttar Pradesh
- 30–34Rajasthan CircleRajasthan
- 36–39Gujarat CircleGujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
- 40–44Maharashtra CircleMaharashtra, Goa
- 45–48Madhya Pradesh CircleMadhya Pradesh
- 49Chattisgarh CircleChhattisgarh
- 50Telangana CircleTelangana, Andhra Pradesh
- 51–53Andhra Pradesh CircleAndhra Pradesh
- 56–59Karnataka CircleKarnataka
- 60–64Tamilnadu CircleTamil Nadu, Puducherry
- 67–69Kerala CircleKerala, Lakshadweep
- 70–74West Bengal CircleWest Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- 75–77Odisha CircleOdisha
- 78Assam CircleAssam, Meghalaya
- 79North Eastern CircleArunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland
- 80Bihar CircleBihar
- 81–83Jharkhand CircleJharkhand, Bihar
- 84–85Bihar CircleBihar
- 90APS Circle
The last three digits
Who delivers your letter
The last three digits pick a post office inside the sorting district. Post offices form a chain: head offices run sub offices, which run village branch offices.
- HO811
Head Offices
Run the postal accounts for their area and supervise the sub and branch offices under them.
- SO24,546
Sub Offices
Departmental post offices in town and city localities, reporting to a head office.
- BO1,40,270
Branch Offices
Village post offices run by a Gramin Dak Sevak, reporting to a sub office.
Some offices are marked non-delivery: they sell stamps and accept mail and parcels, but letters to their area are delivered by a neighbouring office. That is why a PIN code page can list several offices but only one that delivers.
Putting it together
A letter’s journey
- 1
Written on the envelope
Six digits are all that sorting needs. The address tells the postman the door; the PIN tells India Post the route.
- 2
Sorted by the first three
At the mail office, letters go into the bag for their sorting district: everything starting 110 goes to New Delhi.
- 3
Sent to the delivery office
The last three digits pick the post office, which may be a head office, a sub office or a village branch office.
- 4
Delivered
A postman in towns, or a Gramin Dak Sevak in villages, takes it from the post office to the address.
India Post introduced the Postal Index Number on 15 August 1972. Before that, mail was sorted by the names of places, and with many towns sharing similar names, letters often went astray.
Beyond the PIN code
PIN code vs DIGIPIN
In 2025 India Post added DIGIPIN, a digital address that points to a spot rather than an area. You still need the PIN code for post; the DIGIPIN pins down the door.
PIN code
110001
6 digits for the area a post office serves: here, New Delhi GPO and its neighbourhood. India has 19,586.
DIGIPIN
39J 429L 4TK
10 characters for a square of about 4 m × 4 m: this one is India Gate. Every spot in India has one, even without a street address.
Frequently asked questions
What does each digit of a PIN code mean?
The first digit is the postal zone (1 to 8 by region, 9 for the Army Postal Service). The first two digits are the postal circle, usually a state. The first three digits are the sorting district, where mail is sorted. The last three digits identify the delivery post office.
How many PIN codes are there in India?
India Post’s directory lists 19,586 PIN codes, served by 1,65,627 post offices: 811 head offices, 24,546 sub offices and 1,40,270 branch offices.
Who introduced PIN codes, and when?
The Postal Index Number was introduced on 15 August 1972 by Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, then an additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications, to make sorting faster and reduce misrouted mail.
Which PIN codes start with 9?
Zone 9 belongs to the Army Postal Service, which carries mail for the armed forces through field post offices. Their PIN codes are not public; only its Central Base Post Offices (900056, 900099) appear in India Post’s directory.
Is a PIN code the same as a ZIP code or postal code?
Yes, for an Indian address. "ZIP code" is the American name and "postal code" the general one; when a form asks for either, enter your 6-digit PIN code.
What is the difference between a PIN code and a DIGIPIN?
A PIN code covers the whole area served by a post office, often several villages or a city neighbourhood. A DIGIPIN, introduced by India Post in 2025, is a 10-character code for a square of about 4 m × 4 m, so it can point to a single house.
Figures from India Post’s All India Pincode Directory, updated October 2025. Sorting districts are named after the district most PIN codes with those digits belong to.