Titan says PAN rule for Rs 2 lakh transactions may hurt jewellery business

India's largest Jewellery and watchmaker Titan Co Ltd on Thursday said the government mandate to make permanent account number (PAN) mandatory for all transactions above Rs 2 lakh could hurt its jewellery business.

The finance ministry on Tuesday said that PAN will be mandatory for sales and purchases of goods and services above Rs 2 lakh, irrespective of any mode of payment. So far, PAN was needed for jewellery purchases of over Rs 5 lakh.

Titan in a notification to the Bombay Stock Exchange said cash transactions of more than Rs 2 lakh accounted for less than 10% of the revenue from its jewellery division. It did not quantify the potential impact of the new rule.

The Titan stock closed 0.70 paise or 0.20% down at Rs 353.90 on Thursday on the BSE.

"We do not expect any impact on our revenues for transactions made with credit cards, cheques, gift vouchers etc. The impact of on our golden harvest scheme related sales is also envisaged to be minimal," said S Subramanian, chief financial officer of Titan in the notice.