Banking services to be impacted if account holders fail to link PAN with Aadhaar by March 31: SBI

In yet another deadline notified for its customers, the State Bank of India (or SBI) has asked its account holders to link their PAN (Permanent Address Number) with Aadhaar Number by March 31, which is the end of this month.

The country’s largest public-sector lender said that PAN-Aadhaar link before the due date is mandatory to enjoy seamless banking services. It has also said that the necessary work should be done in time to prevent their banking services from getting disrupted.

“We advise our customers to link their PAN with Aadhaar to avoid any inconvenience and continue enjoying a seamless banking service," SBI had said in a tweet in the first week of February.

“If not linked, PAN will be rendered inoperative/inactive and cannot be used for carrying out specific transactions.” SBI added.

The bank also posted a similar notification on its website, saying that PAN-Aadhaar linking is necessary to get services on credit cards.

“As per section 139AA of the Income Tax Act 1961, it is mandatory to link Aadhaar number with Permanent Account Number (PAN) by 31st March 2022. PAN provided by you to SBI Card will be deemed inoperative from 1st April, 2022, if it is not linked to your Aadhaar number by the above mentioned date. Please note that your PAN needs to be operational in order to enjoy uninterrupted services on your credit card," said the SBI on its website.

The government has notably extended the date to link Aadhaar-PAN from September 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022, in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Board of Direct taxes has also made it clear that those who will link their PAN with Aadhaar after the deadline, the PAN will “become operative from the date of intimation of Aadhaar number".

The last date to link PAN with Aadhaar has been updated many times. The CBDT had last reaffirmed the consequences in February 2020, but subsequently extended the deadline to March 31, 2022.

“The Central Government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income-tax Act,” said the CBDT in a notification.