Credit for the Season, Without Interest
The Kissan Card is the Punjab government’s interest-free credit card for small farmers.
Instead of borrowing from a dealer or a middleman at heavy markup, a farmer buys the season’s seed, fertiliser and pesticide on the card at registered dealers and repays the same amount after the harvest.
The credit is Rs 30,000 for every acre, up to Rs 150,000 in a season.
That one change matters more than the amount. A small farmer’s season is usually decided before sowing, when cash is shortest.
Dealer credit at that moment rarely comes free: the markup hides inside the price of the bag. The card takes the purchase out of that trap.
The farmer pays the dealer through the card, the bank settles the dealer’s bill and the farmer repays the bank after the crop is sold.
The card is now in its third phase. It is run with the Bank of Punjab.
There is no cash at any stage: no cash at application, no cash at purchase and no cash in hand at any point. If anyone offers you cash against this card, you are looking at a fraud, not a facility.
The Card at a Glance
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Credit per acre | Rs 30,000 |
| Season limit | Rs 150,000 (an increase to Rs 300,000 has been announced) |
| Markup | Zero — fully interest-free |
| What it buys | Seed, fertiliser and pesticide at registered dealers — paid through the card, never cash |
| Land holding | 1 to 12.5 acres, verified in PLRA records |
| Apply by SMS | Send PKC [space] your CNIC number to 8070 |
| Bank | Bank of Punjab — biometric verification at a branch |
| Helpline | 0800-17000 |
Who Can Apply
- You must be a farmer in Punjab who owns between one and 12.5 acres of land.
- Your land record must stand verified in the Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) record.
- The mobile SIM you apply from must be registered against your own CNIC.
- Your bank credit history (e-CIB) must be clean.
Read those four lines twice before you apply.
Most failed applications in this programme fail on records, not on merit: land that has not yet been transferred into the applicant’s own name, a SIM registered on a relative’s CNIC, an old unpaid bank liability sitting in the credit history.
All three can be fixed before applying. None of them can be fixed at the bank counter.
How to Apply — Three Steps
Send the SMS
From the SIM registered on your CNIC, send PKC, a space and then your CNIC number without dashes to 8070. Keep the reply safe; it is your proof of application.
Biometric at the bank
Visit your nearest Bank of Punjab branch with your original CNIC for biometric verification. Your land record and your credit history are checked at this stage.
Buy on the card, repay after harvest
Once the card is issued and activated, buy seed, fertiliser and pesticide at registered dealers and pay with the card. Repay the amount at the end of the season to keep your limit alive for the next one.
What to Keep Ready
- Your original CNIC — the bank will not complete biometric verification without it.
- A mobile SIM registered on your own CNIC — the application SMS must go from this SIM.
- Your land record in your own name in the PLRA record — have any pending transfer or correction completed first.
- The SMS confirmation from 8070, kept safe until the card is issued.
Two More Punjab Schemes Worth Knowing
PSER Registration
The Punjab Socio-Economic Registry is the data base behind most Punjab welfare schemes. A household that is registered and verified in PSER is easier to select for support programmes across the province.
Read the PSER guideHimmat Card
A quarterly cash payment for persons with disabilities who are certified by Social Welfare Punjab and assessed as not fit for work. The payment comes through a Bank of Punjab card.
Read the Himmat Card guideHow the Money Works
The card’s limit follows your land. One acre carries Rs 30,000 of credit, so a farmer with five acres reaches the season limit of Rs 150,000.
A rise in the season limit to Rs 300,000 has been announced by the government.
Until that rise is formally notified and applied by the bank, the working limit on this page stays at Rs 150,000 — plan your season on the working limit, not on the announcement.
The credit is tied to the crop calendar. It is drawn during the season for inputs and repaid when the season ends.
The Rabi window, when wheat goes into the ground, is the busiest application period of the year; the Kharif window serves the summer crops. A farmer who repays in full and on time keeps the facility alive season after season.
A farmer who does not repay loses the limit and damages the credit record the next application depends on.
Nothing about the card is cash. The dealer is paid through the card for inputs the farmer actually takes home.
That design is deliberate: it keeps the subsidy inside the crop, where it was meant to work.
Mistakes That Kill Applications
Read this before you apply:
- Applying from someone else’s SIM. If the SIM is not registered on your own CNIC, the application does not match your record.
- Typing the CNIC with dashes. The SMS format is PKC, a space and the CNIC number without dashes.
- Land not yet in your name. An inherited plot that was never transferred in the PLRA record will fail verification. Complete the transfer first.
- Paying an agent to turn the card into cash. The card cannot be converted into cash. Anyone charging a fee for this is running a fraud and misuse can cancel the card.
- Missing the repayment. The season limit survives only if the season’s amount is repaid. A default also sits in your credit history.
For Faisalabad Readers
Faisalabad’s wheat and cotton growers fall squarely inside the card’s land limits, because most farms in the district are small holdings. The Rabi wheat season is the busiest application window of the year in the district.
Apply early in the season so that verification finishes before sowing peaks. Keep the confirmation SMS safe until the card is in your hand.
Questions Farmers Ask
Kissan Card Credit Calculator
Enter your land and see at once how much interest-free credit you can draw for one season.
Your credit limit — one season
Rs —
Enter your land in acres to see your season credit limit.
Season maximum applied — the limit is capped at Rs 150,000 per season, however large the holding.
Rate: Rs 30,000 for every acre · Markup: zero — fully interest-free
For seed, fertiliser and pesticide at registered dealers, paid through the card — never cash. Bank of Punjab · Helpline 0800-17000 · Apply by SMS: send PKC and your CNIC number to 8070.
