Government deactivates 11 lakh PANs to check duplication: Steps to check whether your PAN is safe

The government has observed that multiple PANs have been assigned to multiple people and a single person has also been assigned multiple PANs. The last date of linking PAN with Aadhaar is August 31. You can check the status of your PAN card here.

The Government of India has deactivated over 11 lakh PANs in a bid to de-duplicate illegal ones. As per rules, it is illegal to hold multiple PAN cards or assigning a single PAN card to multiple people. Moreover, the last day of linking the PAN card and Aadhaar card is August 31, 2017. Explaining the logic behind the same, the government, in a statement, said, "The uniqueness of PAN is achieved by conducting a de-duplication check on all already existing allotted PAN against the data furnished by new applicant. Under the existing system of PAN, only demographic data is captured."

The government has clearly mentioned through Digital India account that there have been multiple cases of one PAN allotted to multiple persons. Therefore, it becomes even more important to check the status of the PAN and link it with the Aadhaar card within the stipulated time. 

Step to check whether your PAN is active:

• Visit the income tax department's e-filing site- incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
• Click on the 'Know Your PAN' option on the left side of the panel
• The next page needs to be filled with personal details like name, status, hindu undivided family, etc. Ensure that the particulars are precise and correct.
• Click the Submit button and hit validate once the window shifts to the next page that asks for OTP received on your registered mobile number.
• There may be a pop-up asking for a few more details, which need to be furnished.
• On the next page, if the PAN card is not duplicated, it will be mentioned as ACTIVE under the Remarks column.

The Digital India Project aims to connect all Gram Panchayats by broadband Internet, promoting e-governance and transforming the government into a connected knowledge economy.