Will govt use Digiyatra data to crack down on tax evaders? Income tax department clarifies

The Income Tax (IT) Department of India, under the Ministry of Finance, issued a clarification on Monday, December 30, over concerns about news reports claiming that the tax regulator will use Digiyatra data to crack down on evaders. 

The regulator said that the IT Department has not made such a move to use the data collected from the airport entry interface Digiyatra data as of December 30. 

“It is seen that news articles have appeared stating that Digiyatra data will be used to crack down on tax evaders. In this connection it is clarified that as on date there is no such move by the @IncomeTaxIndia department,” said the Income Tax Department of India in an official social media post on the platform X.

Netizens React

People on the social media platform reacted to the tax regulator’s clarification, and the post went viral, with more than 11,300 views as of this article’s publication.

People questioned the tax department’s use of “as on date” in the post. This does not clarify on the future plans of the IT Department to use it for tax evasion crackdown.

“As on date? What about tomorrow?” questioned Shivakrishna Yamsani, a software architect responding to the department’s post. 

Others like Tejas Bhadani also questioned the same, claiming that people should have to read between the lingo to understand a message. “As on date, should one be reading in between the lines?” said Bhadani. 

The Ministry of Civil Aviation in February informed the Parliament that the Digiyatra data or the personal information of a passenger is stored in the mobile wallet of the traveller, and there is no centralised storage of the information.

“The Digi Yatra processes are subjected to audits and certification by CERT-In empanelled agencies to ensure adherence to data privacy and security standards,” said the Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh (Retd), reported Mint earlier.