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

For new applicants of PAN card, the Aadhaar-PAN linking is done automatically during the application stage.

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.