Centre has collected over Rs 600 crore penalty for delay in linking PAN with Aadhaar

A total of 11.48 crore persons, excluding those from exempted categories, have not linked the two documents, the government said.

Feb 6, 2024 - 06:00

Centre has collected over Rs 600 crore penalty for delay in linking PAN with Aadhaar

Over Rs 600 crore has been collected as penalty from citizens who delayed linking their Permanent Account Number, or PAN, with Aadhaar, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

“The total collection of fee from the persons who have not linked their PAN with Aadhaar is Rs 601.97 crore from 01.07.2023 to 31.01.2024,” Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to Parliament.

The minister said that as of January 29, a total of 11.48 crore persons had not linked their PAN with Aadhaar. This number does not include categories of individuals for whom it is not mandatory to link the two documents – those who stay in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya or Assam, those categorised as “non-residents” under the Income Tax, those above 80 years of age and those who are not Indian citizens.

All those who were allotted a PAN as of July 1, 2017, had to link it to Aadhaar by June 30. The PAN of those who do not comply with the requirement becomes inoperative, which means that they cannot receive income tax refunds or interest on the refunds.

Citizens can make their PAN operative again by paying a late fee of Rs 1,000.

In September 2018, the Supreme Court held that a provision...