Increased fines and prison sentences to prevent PAN and Aadhaar theft
Increased fines and prison sentences to prevent PAN and Aadhaar theft
A stringent legal framework to prohibit and punish identity theft, including the exploitation of stolen Permanent Account Numbers and Aadhaar cards, is now being considered by the Central government.
A stringent legal framework to dissuade and punish identity theft, including the abuse of stolen Permanent Account Numbers and Aadhaar cards, is now being considered by the Central Government in light of the rapidly growing Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues, which have caused a wave of fiscal joy, and the lakhs of stolen PAN and Aadhaar cards, which have caused massive GST evasion. According to a recent article published in The Economic Times, the penalties that are being considered for these violations include increased fines and possibly possible jail. These punishments may be included in the Data Protection Bill, which may be introduced during the upcoming session of Parliament.
The new plans of the government are in response to the raids that took place in the months of May and June in states such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Punjab. During these raids, approximately 4,000 shell companies and about 16,000 fake GST registrations were found to be using stolen identities of beneficiaries of social security schemes. More than Rs 30,000 crore worth of GST has been avoided as a direct result of this intricate web of fraud.
The revelation of evasion of indirect tax on such a big scale upset the Centre, which is contemplating introducing a Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament to plug the holes in the otherwise robust GST collection picture. The discovery of evasion of indirect tax on such a massive scale stunned the Centre. Six years after the initial rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the monthly receipts appear to be stabilising well over the level of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The amount of money brought in during the months of April, May, and June of this year was correspondingly Rs. 1.87 lakh crore, Rs. 1.57 lakh crore, and Rs. 1.61 lakh crore.
If the leak hadn’t happened, the total sum may have easily gotten close to or perhaps over the Rs 2 lakh crore barrier, which is a number that has not yet been crossed. This is because the barrier has not yet been exceeded.
“The penalty for misusing either PAN or Aadhaar is quite little… It is imperative that the framework be strengthened in light of the fact that considerable money is being lost by both the central government and the states. According to a senior Finmin official, “This is a matter of great concern, and while technology is helping us check this, there is a need to have higher penalties in order to deter the perpetrators, and we have sent strong recommendations from our end.” At this time, the punishment for misusing a PAN for fraudulent purposes is a fine of Rs 10,000 or imprisonment for a period of six months, whichever is greater.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been provided with the recommendations. The clauses in question are intended to be incorporated in the draught Data Protection Bill now in circulation.
In addition to giving the legal system more teeth, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs intends to implement biometric verification and geo-tagging of enterprises that have registered for the Goods and Services Tax. This will be done in order to prevent tax evasion and other illegal activities.
