11.5 crore PAN cards deactivated after missing deadline for linking with Aadhaar: RTI reply

RTI activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur questions the ₹1,000 fine imposed for reactivating PAN cards

There are 70.24 crore PAN card holders in India and among them, 57.25 crore have had their PAN cards linked with Aadhaar. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

A total of 11.5 crore PAN cards were deactivated for not being linked to Aadhaar cards before the stipulated deadline, a Right to Information (RTI) reply by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated. 

The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar expired on June 30 earlier this year. 

There are 70.24 crore PAN card holders in India and among them, 57.25 crore have had their PAN cards linked with Aadhaar. The RTI reply further states that over 12 crore PAN cards have not been linked with Aadhaar, of which 11.5 crore cards have been deactivated. 

The RTI was filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur.

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

The RTI reply emphasised that under sub-section (2) of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, it is mandatory for every person who has been allotted a PAN as on July 1, 2017, to “intimate his Aadhaar number”. 

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

Further, Section 234H provides that where a person who is required to link his PAN with Aadhaar, fails to do so on or before a notified date, he shall be liable to pay a fee. 

In order to get the PAN card reactivated, CBDT has imposed a penalty of ₹1,000. 

“The cost of getting a new PAN card made is ₹91 excluding the Goods and Services Tax. Then how can the government impose a 10-fold fine for getting the PAN card reactivated? Also, how will people whose PAN cards have gotten deactivated file income tax?” asked Mr. Gaur. “Government should rethink and extend time limits for at least a year for linking PAN with Aadhaar,” Mr. Gaur further said.

Further, CBDT, in a circular dated March 30, 2022 provided the implications of not linking PAN and Aadhaar on or before the notified date. It also extended the timelines for linking PAN and Aadhaar at that time to June 2023.