India’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Company of India (LIC), is expected to file its IPO (initial public offering) prospectus soon. As the government works on the details, policyholders are getting ready to participate in the IPO.

The government’s step to create a 10% quota for policyholders in the LIC IPO is a first of its kind and the possibility of a discount on the IPO price has pushed several policyholders to open demat accounts. A demat account is mandatory to invest in an IPO.

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Earlier, the life insurer had asked policyholders to update their income tax permanent account number (PAN) and open demat accounts to participate in the issue.

“To participate in any such public offering, policyholders will need to ensure that their PAN details are updated in the corporation’s records. Further subscribing to any public offering in India is only possible if you have a valid demat account,” LIC said in a public notice in all leading newspapers in December.

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Those without a demat account have been advised by LIC to get one at their own cost.

The LIC notice further said, “You would incur costs towards the opening of a demat account and or PAN issuance and maintaining the demat account or other ancillary costs.”

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Here’s how you can update your PAN with your LIC policy:

1) Login to https://linkpan.licindia.in/UIDSeedingWebApp/getPolicyPANStatus

2) Enter your policy number, date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy), PAN, and captcha. Finally, press submit.

3) After updating details, the policyholder can check the status of their LIC policy and PAN link.

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Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), said after the approval from the insurance regulator, LIC’s draft prospectus will be filed. The draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) will be filed within 7-10 days. After securing SEBI’s approval, LIC’s IPO is expected in March.

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The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers, including Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd, to manage the IPO of the country’s largest insurer. Deloitte and SBI Caps have been appointed as pre-IPO transaction advisors.