The finance ministry on Friday refuted a report that suggested delays in issuing of PAN cards to the FIIs led to fall in investments by them.

"Delays, if any, in issuance of PAN cards take place usually due to incomplete documentation by applicants," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) spokesman Shishir Jha said reacting to a story which appeared in a Delhi newspaper that suggested such decline in FII investments was due to delays in issuing PAN cards.

Jha said the allotment and issue of Permanent Account Number cards is carried out by the Income Tax Department in partnership with UTI Technology Services Limited and NSDL.

During 2007-08, UTITSL received 100 applications for new PAN cards and all of them were issued within 15 days, he said, adding that the average time taken was 15 days and on March 31 this year there was no pending application for any new PAN card.

Jha said there were only two applications pending as on March 31 with the NSDL that had received 558 applications for new PAN cards during the last fiscal.