Losing revenue, govt to crack down on identity theft and PAN, Aadhaar misuse

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

identity theft and to check misuse of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) and Aadhaar. The finance ministry has proposed a substantial increase in penalty and punishment to the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) for inclusion in the proposed Data Protection Bill, likely to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. «Penalty for misuse of PAN or Aadhaar is very low… Considering that both the Centre and states are losing substantial revenue, there is a need to tighten the framework,» a senior finance ministry official told ET.

At present, misuse of PAN in fraud can attract a penalty of ₹10,000 or six months imprisonment. The move came after the government detected shell companies being registered using stolen identities. «This is a matter of great concern and while technology is helping us check this, there is a need to have higher penalties to deter the culprits and we have sent strong recommendations from our end,» the official said.

In the ongoing drive against fake registrations, Goods and Service Tax authorities tracked 12,000 bogus entities across India, causing an estimated revenue loss of over ₹30,000 crore to the exchequer. To curb rampant fraud, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs is planning to implement pan-India biometric authentication and geotagging of GST-registered firms. The official added that the recommendation to Meity was made last month.

Meity is already working on the revised draft law and has undertaken a fresh round of consultation with stakeholders. The official added that it would be taken to the cabinet for its approval after fine-tuning. The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to begin on July 17.