''No Outages In Aadhaar Linking Facility With PAN Card, EPFO'': Government

Edited by Nikita Prasad

28 Aug 2021, 07:31 PM IST

The government clarified that the Aadhaar linking facility with PAN, EPF is working fine

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) clarified on Saturday, August 28, that there have been no outages in its Aadhaar linking facility with Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which are authentication-based facilities, and asserted that all its services are stable.

The comment from the government agency came amid few media reports of UIDAI system outages in linking Aadhaar with the PAN card and EPFO. The media reports stated that Aadhaar users are struggling due to the glitches as the PAN, EPF linking deadline nears. To this, the UIDAI clarified that the reports are ''inaccurate'' and the services are working fine. (Also Read: Deadline To Link Aadhaar Card-PAN Card Extended )

In a statement, the UIDAI - mandated to issue the 12 digit Aadhaar number to residents of the country, explained that as it was undergoing an ''essential security upgrade'' in its systems in a phased manner over the last week.

Some intermittent service interruptions were reported only in the enrollment and mobile update service facility at a few enrolment or update centers - which is also working fine now, after upgradation, added the Aadhaar-issuing body. Even though the system has stabilised now, but the government body is monitoring the same to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to users.

More than 51 lakh residents have been enrolled in the last nine days since the beginning of the upgradation process on August 20, 2021, at an average of 5.68 lakh enrolment per day, according to government data. The authentication transactions have taken place as usual on an average of more than 5.3 crore authentications per day.

The Unique Identity Number or the Aadhaar is a 12-digit number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, whereas PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number that is allotted by the Income Tax department. Linking the Aadhaar and PAN card is mandatory to complete income tax-related activities such as filing income-tax returns or ITRs. (Also Read: How To Link PAN Card With Aadhaar Online )

The last date to link PAN with the Aadhaar card is September 30, 2021. In June, the government extended the deadline to link the two identification documents by another three months to provide relief to taxpayers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the last date was March 31, 2021, which was then extended to June 30, 2021. Now, the new deadline is set as September 30.