In a move aimed at strengthening the economy further and cracking down against wrongdoers, the Narendra Modi government, on Tuesday, proposed that the Aadhaar Card be mandatory in the country to file not just income tax returns, but also to apply for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) effective from July 1. Apart from the above mentioned directive, the Modi-led government has made Aadhaar Card mandatory for Employee Provident Fund (EPF) accounts. The Union government has moved these proposals through amendments in the Finance Bill that is currently being discussed in the Parliament. As per reports, those who do not have their Aadhaar Card can file ITR by Aadhaar enrollment number.
With government shifting all financial linking to the Aadhaar card, the question that is now being raised is that if Aadhaar Card being made mandatory for all the things for which PAN is also mandatory, what is the need of having both? Meanwhile, the procedure of linking all the bank accounts with the unique identification number has already been started by the government. As per some media reports, the decision to link Aadhaar Card to a bank account and to make it necessary for filing I-T returns was taken back in May last year. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has also said that all devices using Aadhaar Card authentication will have to follow new encryption standards from June 1.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the Finance Bill in a session that is scheduled to happen on Wednesday. The latest changes in the Finance Bill comes amid the World Bank praising India’s efforts to set up a mechanism where every citizen of the country will have a unique identity number, similarly like the social security number in the United States. The idea is to use Aadhaar Card as a single proof of identity, address and for all other official purposes.
(Story under development)