SEBI Asks Market Investors To Link PAN And Aadhaar By March 31

According to SEBI, non-compliance to the mandate will lead to restrictions on securities and other transactions until the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar are linked

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday asked investors to ensure that their PAN and Aadhaar are linked by the March-end for continuing smooth transactions in the securities market. According to SEBI, non-compliance with the mandate will lead to restrictions on securities and other transactions until the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar are linked. 

The SEBI in a statement said, “All existing investors are required to ensure linking of their PAN with Aadhaar number prior to March 31, 2023, for continual and smooth transactions in the securities market and to avoid consequences of non-compliance with the said CBDT circular.”

"Since PAN is the key identification number and part of KYC requirements for all transactions in the securities market, all Sebi registered entities and Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) are required to ensure valid KYC for all participants,” the statement added. 

SEBI said, the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961, make it mandatory for every person who has been  allotted a  Permanent  Account  Number  (PAN)  to intimate his/her Aadhaar Number to the prescribed authority so that the Aadhaar and PAN can be linked. This is required to be  done on or before the notified date, failing which the PAN shall become inoperative.

As per the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) circular dated March 30, 2022, the PAN allotted to a person shall become inoperative if it is not linked with Aadhaar by March 31, 2023. 

Individuals will be restricted from filing the income-tax return or accessing PAN-related services failing to link Aadhaar and PAN card by 31 March 2023. However, there are still some exemptions to this rule as notified by the Centre. There are four categories of people who are exempted from PAN-Aadhaar linking, as per a notification issued by the Union Finance Ministry in May 2017. Residents of Assam, Meghalaya, and Jammu and Kashmir, a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961, of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year, and not a citizen of India.