Centre to look into linking Aadhar and PAN at Post Offices | India News – Times of India

KOLKATA: Central government is looking into the possibility of providing Aadhar card and PAN Card linking services at the Post offices in the rural areas. In a response to the leader of the opposition at Parliament, Adhir Chowdhury’s plea to provide similar services “free of cost” the Union Finance Ministry has said that the request has been forwarded to the ministry concerned.

The government has however said that any exemption from paying fee can be provided for linking Aadhar Card with PAN Card will not be “appropriate” at this stage.
Chowdhury had in March this year sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking provision of linking Aadhar Card and Pan Card at the local and sub-post offices “free of cost”.

Chowdhury alleged that a lot of people at villages are being duped by touts and middlemen when they are trying to link the two cards. He has also sought extension of the deadline to link PAN and Aadhar Card.
In a response on June 27, Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said that the last date for linking the two cards was primarily fixed as September 30, 2019 and was subsequently extended from time to time.
“Therefore any extension to the dead-line is not feasible. Further, exemption from the prescribed fee for linking PAN with Aadhar will be unfair to the PAN holders who have linked their cards by making payment of prescribed fee.” The minister has said that Chowdhury’s plea of Aadhar linking at the post offices has been forwarded to the ministry concerned.