A whopping 11.44 lakh PAN cards have been deactivated by the government after the emergence of a trail of fake PAN cards. Government rules state that a person cannot have more than one registered PAN number.
The Centre found that there were fake PAN cards under the names of non-existing people or ones assigned to individuals who had registered themselves with false information, according to an Indian Express report.
Considering this mass cancellation of several PAN cards, here are a few quick steps which can help you check the validity of your PAN card:
- Visit the Income Tax e-filing website. Click on the “Know Your PAN” option on the left hand column titled “Services”, on the website’s home page.
- You will be taken to a fresh page where you will be asked to enter all your personal details (name, religion, etc). Enter the same mobile number on this page as the one you entered on your form while applying for your PAN card. After typing out your details, click on “Submit”. You will receive a One Time Password (OTP) on your registered mobile number.
- Enter the OTP on the next page of the website and click on “Validate”.
- If you have multiple PAN cards registered with your details, an alert will pop up saying, “There are multiple records for this query. Please provide additional information.” Additional information will be asked of you, such as, your father’s name.
- After entering these details, you will be led to a fresh page where you will be able to see the validity of your PAN card, the number of the active PAN card and its jurisdiction.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
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