About 11.5 crore PAN cards were deactivated as they were not linked to Aadhaar cards before the stipulated deadline, according to The Hindu. The data was revealed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in response to a Right to Information (RTI).
The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar cards was June 30 this year. According to the newspaper, of the 70.24 crore PAN card holders in India, 57.25 crore have linked their cards with Aadhaar. Among the nearly 13 crore who have not, 11.5 crore cards have been deactivated, the RTI reply stated.
For those who were issued PAN cards after July 1, 2017, the linking with Aadhaar was done automatically. But those who were issued PAN cards before that date had to link it manually, under sub-section (2) of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.
“This linking of PAN and Aadhaar was required to be done on or before a notified date, failing which PAN becomes inoperative,” the CBDT said in the RTI reply, according to The Hindu.
Section 234H of the IT Act also makes a person who has not linked their PAN with Aadhaar liable to pay a fee. To get the PAN card reactivated, the CBDT has imposed a penalty of Rs 1,000.
Source from: https://thewire.in/government/pan-cards-cbdt-deactivated-11-5-crore-failure-link-aadhaar