Tens of Millions of Overseas Indians Freak Out

Over 10 crore PANs of NRIs were rendered inactive, causing widespread concern that NRIs' Indian bank accounts and investments may be blocked.

The Income Tax Department provided an explanation as to why certain PAN cards belonging to NRIs and OCIs stopped working.

PANs were made inactive for NRIs who haven't submitted Income Tax Returns in the past three years or updated their residential status with the Assessing Officer, and for OCIs who applied for a PAN under resident status but haven't filed an ITR or updated their residential status in the last three years.

PAN-Aadhar linking was due by the end of June. The move was made to cut down on PAN database inconsistencies caused by duplicate entries. The government agency is now requesting proof of residence from NRIs and OCIs.