11.5 Crore PAN Cards deactivated after missing deadline for linking with Aadhaar: RTI

As per Right to Information (RTI) response by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a total of 11.5 crore PAN cards were deactivated for failing to be linked to Aadhaar cards by the deadline.

The deadline for linking PAN to Aadhaar ended earlier this year on June 30.

There are 70.24 crore PAN card holders in India, with 57.25 crore having their PAN cards linked with Aadhaar. According to the RTI response, over 12 crore PAN cards have not been connected with Aadhaar, and 11.5 crore cards have been deactivated.

Chandra Shekhar Gaur, a Madhya Pradesh-based activist, filed the RTI.

The Aadhaar-PAN linking is done automatically during the application stage for new PAN card applicants. It is “mandatory” to link PAN and Aadhaar for existing PAN holders who were assigned PAN on or before July 1, 2017.

According to the RTI response, it is required for everybody who has been assigned a PAN as of July 1, 2017, to “inform his Aadhaar number” under sub-section (2) of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.

“This linking of PAN and Aadhaar was required to be done on or before a notified date, failing which PAN becomes inoperative,” according to the RTI reply.

Section 234H further states that if a person who is obligated to link his PAN with Aadhaar fails to do so on or before a declared date, he must pay a fee.

The CBDT has imposed a Rs.1,000 penalty to reactivate the PAN card.

“The cost of getting a new PAN card is 91, excluding the Goods and Services Tax. So, how can the government levy a tenfold fee for reactivating the PAN card? Also, how will persons whose PAN cards have been disabled file income tax?” asked Mr. Gaur.

“Government should rethink and extend time limits for at least a year for linking PAN with Aadhaar,” added Mr. Gaur.

Furthermore, in a circular dated March 30, 2022, the CBDT explained the consequences of not integrating PAN and Aadhaar on or before the announced date. It also extended the deadlines for connecting PAN and Aadhaar at the time to June 2023.