In a bid to check fraudulent practice in banking and taxation systems, the Government has decided to issue newly designed Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards with modern security features therein. In its new avatar, the upcoming redesigned new PAN cards will wear a different and smarter look than that of the existing ones. The new features include Quick Response (QR) code, different positioning of card holder's Personal Account Number and signature among others. The printing process has been already started from January 1, 2017 and new cards will be in place in all channels shortly.

The move comes at a time when the Government is making its all-out effort with various measures to increase the tax base and ensure the card users to operate them in a fair and transparent manner accross the country.

When contacted about the move of the Government, a senior tax official who is involved in the process said, "As the Government has made PAN card is mandatory in banking channels, we are told to move one step forward on security front. It's being done to make the verification of PAN card holder easier than the existing ones. The verification process of current PAN card users is a complex and time consuming, while new ones simpler and time saving."

He further added, "The new step of the Government is to automate the data in order to avoid any kind of error in banking and taxation issues. The new cards will be bilingual--both in English and Hindi, aiming to follow the Rajbhasha policy of the Government."

When asked about replacement of existing cards, he said, "There is no replacement of the old cards. It is meant for the new PAN card holders only but it will restrict holding double or multiple PAN cards for wrong use. The distribution of new cards will start shortly."

As far as QR code is concerned, he said, "We have added this new feature in the card for more security measures. We have incorporated all details such as name, father's name and date of birth in the QR code which will be shown at one go on scanning. The existing cards have no such features and this new code facilitates that no two persons can use the same details in his/her card."

On January 10, 2017, National Securities Depository limited (NSDl) e-Governance Infrastructure limited PAN Services issued a circular, saying that all Tax Information Network- Facility Centres (TIN-FCs) and PAN centres are here by informed that the Income Tax (I-T) department has prescribed certain changes in the existing design of PAN cards.

"The specimen of the PAN card has Quick response (QR) code having the details of PAN applicant is printed on the PAN card for enabling verification of the PAN card. Besides, legends have been incorporated for particulars such as name, father's name and date of birth fields. Also, position of PAN and signature has been also changed," the circular said.

"Accordingly, with effect from January 1, 2017 PAN card are being printed per new design specification approved by I-T department under the Finance Ministry," it added.

However, an official of I-T department said, "Post demonetisation, the Government has taken numerous steps for tax evaders in the country. This is the move of the tax department to ensure maximum transparency in taxation and the related issues involved in it."

Permanent Account Number or PAN, as it is commonly called, is a means of identifying various taxpayers in the country. PAN is a unique identification number assigned to every Indians, mostly to those who pay tax. Through this method, all tax related information for a person is recorded against a single PAN number which acts as the primary key for storage of information. This is shared across the country and hence no two people on tax paying entities can have the same PAN.

On last Sunday, the Government had directed banks to obtain the PAN or Form-60 if PAN is not available, from all bank account holders by February 28, 2017. Income-tax rules have been amended to provide that banks shall obtain and link PAN or Form No. 60 (where PAN is not available) in all existing bank accounts other than basic savings accounts by February 28, 2017, if not already done, a notification by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had stated.

After one and half months of experiencing note ban since November 8, 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also said that just because large quantum of high denominational currency has been deposited with the banks does not render this money to be legitimate cash and the I-T department is entitled to tax this money.

"Black money does not change its colour merely because it is deposited in banks. On the contrary, it loses its anonymity and can now be identified with its owner," the Finance Minister in a Facebook post titled Demonetisation -- a look back at the last two months.

"In any case, the amendment to the Income Tax Act itself provides that the said money, if voluntarily declared or if involuntarily detected, would be liable for differential and high rates of taxation and penalty," Jaitley had added.