Does Aadhaar Authentication with Permanent Account Number (PAN) fail due to data incompatibility? Yes. According to the government, there have been instances of Aadhaar authentication with PAN failing due to inconsistency in details such as name, date of birth, gender of mobile number, etc.
“There are cases of failure of Aadhaar authentication with PAN number due to incompatibility in basic details (like name, date of birth, gender of an individual and phone number laptop, etc.) between PAN data and Aadhaar data,” Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on July 25.
According to Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act 1961, it is compulsory for anyone who has been granted a PAN on July 1, 2017 to state their Aadhaar number so that the Aadhaar and PAN can be linked.
As many as 5,180 complaints related to Aadhaar’s link to PAN were received in the 2022-23 financial year. During the previous fiscal year, 5,861 complaints were received, according to the minister.
Chaudhary said that if the mismatch is due to the details of the Aadhaar card, the taxpayer, including those aged over 70, can have the details corrected by the relevant authority.
“If the mismatch is due to the details of the Aadhaar card, the taxpayer, including those aged over 70, may have the Aadhaar details corrected by the relevant authority. Wherever the mismatch or difficulty regarding the PAN card itself is flagged, action is taken and a resolution is provided to the taxpayer,” the minister said.
The last date to link PAN to Aadhaar was March 31, 2022.
Aadhaar-PAN linking is an automated process performed by the applicant using Aadhaar-based verification on the e-filing portal.
Fine for not linking PAN and Aadhaar
According to Section 234H of the Income Tax Act 1961, there is a penalty of up to Rs 1000 for not linking Aadhaar with PAN.
“March 31, 2022 has been notified as the prescribed date to intimidate Aadhaar from binding him to PAN… the charges for failing to intimidate Aadhaar before this date have been prescribed at Rs. 500 if the notification is made within three months of the date prescribed (i.e. until 30.06.2022) and Rs. 1000, if intimation is made after three months,” Chaudhary said in response to another question in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (July 26, 2022 ).
