Fake PANs may tighten checks

The finance ministry is considering tightening validation checks for issuance of permanent account numbers to reduce chances of duplicate numbers being issued.

The revenue department has already detected around 23 lakh duplicate PANs issued to around 12 to 13 lakh people. Delhi has an estimated six lakh duplicate PANs, while Mumbai has over 4 lakhs.

There were 45 million PAN card holders in the country as on May 31 while about five lakh PAN applications were received every month, officials said.

Physical checks had already been introduced at the front and the back-end offices of PAN issuer agencies like the National Securities Depository Ltd and UTI Securities to verify the physical identity of a person before issuing a PAN card, officials said.

Other measures are also being considered. One of the options being examined by the department was to reduce the number of categories being allowed to be submitted as proof of identity, officials said.

At present, there are a dozen categories out of which any one can be used for identity proof. These include a school leaving certificate, a matriculation certificate, a degree of a recognised educational institution, credit card, bank accounts, depository account, water bill, ration card, passport and driving license.

Similar categories have been earmarked for proof of address. An individual can also obtain certificate of identity or address signed by a member of parliament, a member of legislative assembly, a municipal councillor or a gazetted officer.

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