BENGALURU: Almost half of the cash deposited in banks following the demonetisation drive has not been accounted for, said a top I-T official.
A whopping Rs 7.32 lakh crore deposits in 1.34 lakh crore accounts across the country appear to be dubious transactions. This was revealed by R Ravichandran, director, Income-tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation), Bengaluru, here on Friday.
It is estimated that over Rs 15 lakh crore worth demonetised notes have been deposited in banks since the November 8 demonetisation announcement by PM Modi.
Ravichandran said, “Substantial amount of money that has come into the system has not been accounted for. Data of all the deposits that were made are being analysed and PAN are being populated for transactions without the same.”
Of such unaccounted transactions, Rs 35,000 crore were deposited in Jan Dhan accounts, while Rs 60,000 crore was deposited in dormant accounts of various banks. In Karnataka and Goa circle of I-T department, deposits worth Rs 17,000 crore are under the scanner, he said. Addressing representatives of various urban banks, Ravichandran said that the Income Tax Department was analysing about 2,300 transactions of above Rs 1 crore in Bengaluru. Of the transactions, 900 did not have PAN numbers, he said.
“The banks where such transactions are reported should identify the customers who made such deposits and populate PAN,” he said. If it is not done ahead of e-filing of taxes, the accused could be booked under Benami Transactions Property Act, and other legislations.
Wrong PAN
The department has also identified transactions which were effected with wrong PAN. Some banks have employed methods such as debiting and transferring the amount to other accounts to hide transactions. Funds are also being deposited in dormant accounts. Using various data mining techniques, the department has been able to flag such fraudulent transactions, he said.
Current account
The I-T officials said that current and savings account of several businessmen, especially jewellers were under the scanner as there was an ‘abnormal increase’ in their businesses post-demonetisation. Information of such accounts are also being analysed. “That is the reason why banks and such businesses have to declare Income Tax for a period between April 1 and November 8 and the subsequent period between November 8 and December 31,” Ravichandran said.