The last date for taxpayers to link their PAN with Aadhaar remains August 31 as the Supreme Court verdict on privacy has no bearing it, according to UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey.
The apex court ruled on Thursday that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, having farreaching impacts on data collection and storage guidelines followed by various agencies, including in large projects like Aadhaar.
"The requirement for Aadhaar being d for availing government subsidies, welfare schemes and other benefits will also continue unhindered for now," he told PTI. The biometric identifier is currently required for services ranging from getting subsidised cooking gas to opening bank account and obtaining a new phone number. The government had extended to deadline to link Aadhaar to PAN by a month to August 31.
"Linking of PAN to Aadhaar is mandated by an amendment in the Income-Tax Act. The linking will continue under that act and law. There is no change." He said various deadlines that have been prescribed, be it under provision of Aadhaar Act, Income Tax Act or money laundering rules will have to be adhered to as those laws are valid.
As Thursday's verdict did not talk specifically about Aadhaar, with a five-judge bench set to pronounce judgment on that aspect, Pandey clarified that Aadhaar enrolment will continue unhindered. He added that the Aadhaar Act protects privacy of people as a fundamental right and its provisions provide for safeguarding of personal data and how such data can be used.
"The data will not be shared without the consent of the person. So, there are number of privacy protection provisions inbuilt into the Aadhaar Act itself," he said. He noted that core biometric can never be shared with anyone for any reason whatsoever, except in special circumstances.