Jewellers have asked the government to scrap the mandatory requirement of Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card during purchase of gold ornaments above Rs 1 lakh as it would be impractical to implement and hurt the jewellery sector.
In the last Union Budget, the Finance Minister had made this provision to prevent the circulation of black money which easily gets converted into gold bars or jewellery.
The All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF), the national federation of the Gems & Jewellery sector, while expressing its dissatisfaction over the matter, said this move would discriminate against 70 per cent of the rural buyers who do not have PAN cards and do not come under the income tax net.
“We will be facing problems of encouraging buyers to visit our showrooms since the new restriction will deter them to buying ornaments as most women do not have PAN cards. Making PAN cards compulsory is a negative step for the industry as this would neutralise benefits arising out of the gold monetisation scheme,” said Ashok Minawala, Director, GJF.
“As of last year, only 14 crore PAN cards were issued across India as against the total population of 125 crore. How justifiable it would be to ask for a PAN card from 89 per cent of the population who do not posses one,” he asked.
According to jewellers, the requirement of PAN card would result in shifting of business from law-abiding jewellers to unscrupulous elements in the trade.
They also said the government must concentrate on eliminating the generation of black money rather than merely seeking to prevent its circulation.
“Our industry does not generate black money but is badly affected when government includes us with others to curb black money, while the black money generation matter is left open-ended. We hope the government reduces import duty on gold which has given rise to the creation of a parallel economy through gold smuggling,” said Manish Jain, Chairman-elect, GJF.
The GJF, however, has welcomed several new initiatives of the government including gold monetisation scheme and bringing the jewellery sector under the 'Make in India’ programme.
