As per the latest figures, over 307.5 million PANs have already been linked to Aadhaar, while 175.8 million PANs are yet to be linked with the 12-digit biometric ID.
The Supreme Court had in September 2018 declared Aadhaar as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for the filing of income tax returns and allotment of PAN cards. "Where a person, who has been allotted the permanent account number as on July 1, 2017 and is required to intimate his Aadhaar number under sub-section (2) of section 139AA, has failed to intimate the same on or before March 31, 2020, the permanent account number of such person shall become inoperative immediately after the said date for the purposes of furnishing, intimating or quoting under the Act," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.
Meanwhile, the government had said that it will roll out a facility to issue online PAN cards instantly on furnishing of Aadhaar details. The Budget 2020-21 had proposed to launch a system under which Permanent Account Number shall be instantly allotted online on the basis of Aadhaar without filling up the detailed application form as it sought to further ease the process of allotment of PAN.