Over 210.8 million PAN cards linked with Aadhaar till now, reveals data

Over 210.8 million permanent account numbers (PANs) have been linked with Aadhaar till now, the latest data revealed as the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the linkage between the two databases Wednesday.

According to official figures accessed by PTI, a total of 21,08,16,676 PANs issued by the Income Tax Department have been linked with Aadhaar till Monday.

The total operational or issued PANs are over 410.2 million (41,02,66,969) according to the same timeline, the data said.

"The deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking has already been extended by the CBDT to March 31 next year, according to an order issued on June 30 this year," a senior official said.

According to the latest data, out of the over 410.2 million PANs issued, an overwhelming number of more than 400 million PANs are held by individuals.

The rest are in the name of companies and other categories of taxpayers, the official said, adding the figure reflects that about 50 per cent of the PANs have been linked with Aadhaar till now.

The deadline to link the two databases has been extended five times in the past in view of the apex court order to keep it open till a five-judge constitution bench delivers its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of the biometric scheme and the enabling law.

That judgement came on Wednesday and the court has upheld the linking of the two databases.

The government, sometime back, had made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.

While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the IT Department to a person, firm or entity.