A large number of people, especially those in the south of the country, feel hassled by the Centre’s decision making Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and linking their PAN with it.
Unlike the rest of India where people use surnames, most people in the South use initials either before or after their names. This has created a unique problem, which the Centre has not thought out clearly.
While providing the Aadhaar enrolment number will do for filing income tax returns, attempts to integrate the Aadhaar with the PAN have failed for many. The PAN card would be deemed invalid if it is not linked to Aadhaar by December 31 this year.
When PAN was issued, people were asked to expand their initials, and the card was issued with the full name. But as many pointed out, initials were expanded only for the purpose of getting a PAN card and a passport. However, the Income Tax department’s software has not been accepting the integration of the two cards, owing to what is primarily a faulty implementation of a government mandate.
Magesh Margabandu, an IT professional, said his PAN card had misspelt his name adding an additional “a” and making his surname as the first name. He said the PAN card issued to him is in the name of “Maragabandu Magesh”. “This was issued in 1996 when I first got a job. Margabandu is my father’s name, but the PAN has swapped it, and the name also has a spelling mistake. My passport and Aadhaar have the correct spelling and the surname. Now, the I-T website is not linking my Aadhaar with PAN,” he said.
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