Quoting wrong Aadhaar for transactions? Beware! Soon, you may end up losing Rs 10,000

You may soon have to pay Rs 10,000 as penalty every time you fail to provide correct Aadhaar number in documents related to a high-value transaction. According to a report by Hindustan Times, this penal provision is expected to be applicable from September 1 this year after amendments to relevant laws and the subsequent issuance of notification. 

While presenting the Budget 2019 on 5th July, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said PAN and Aadhaar cards are being made interchangeable and the central government will now allow those who do not have PAN to file I-T returns by simply quoting their Aadhaar number. She said that citizens not having PAN card can also use Aadhaar wherever they are required to quote PAN.  

An annexure to the Budget speech states,  “The Income Tax department shall allot PAN to such person on the basis of Aadhaar after obtaining demographic data from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). It is also proposed to provide that a person who has already linked his Aadhaar with his PAN may at his option use Aadhaar in place of PAN under the Act,”.

For these amendments, the Budget also proposed that Section 272B of the I-T Act -- which deals with penalty for failure to comply with the provisions of section 139A -- be amended.

Currently, over 120 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued in the country and about 41 crore PAN numbers have been generated in the country. Out of these, 22 crore PANs are linked with Aadhaar so far.