If we want to know who we are, and what the profile of who we are looks like, we need to create our own profile. Creating our own profile includes elaborate documentation of the proof of identity and the other dimensions of our profile. Generally, we are not serious about creating and documenting our profile. Once we try to do the same we will discover that our profile is huge, vast and require in-depth understanding to comprehend and dedicated effort to create it. This article “dissects” and analyses various components that are to be included in our profile documentation.
1. Birth Certificate-Issued by Registrar of Birth.
Kindly verify the particulars such as date of birth, certificate number, date of issue, place of birth, name of mother, name of the father, etc., and ensure that there are no inconsistencies in terms of name spelling, numerical figures, or wording. If any disparities are found, it is necessary to access the correction window and rectify them accordingly. Acquiring birth certificates from religious establishments is an optional affair.
2. Horoscope
Depending on the diverse beliefs in India, the inclusion of a horoscope is discretionary.
3. PAN-Issued by the Income Tax department.
Obtaining PAN for a person is a once-in-a-lifetime event. So give due seriousness to it and submit the perfect documents without any mistake in name, address, or DOB. When we apply for PAN directly through PAN centers other than the instant PAN facility through Aadhar, we need to submit identity proof, address proof, and DOB proof. Before submitting these documents to obtain PAN make sure all the details in all those documents are correct and if not correct, make it correct before applying for PAN number. PAN is such a document we will have to present to various authorities on various occasions. A mismatch can create difficulty. A person is prohibited to own more than one PAN number. It is a punishable offence with a penalty of Rs.10,000 as per the Income Tax Act 1961, a person who is aware that he has more than one pan needs to surrender one pan as immediately as possible. Here Comes the importance of being diligent before obtaining a PAN and safekeeping the pan after obtaining it.
PAN can be obtained by Minors as well. In that case, on attaining the majority, a fresh PAN to be obtained. Please ensure the correctness of the name of the PAN holder, name of the father/Mother, date of birth, etc. Mismatches if any, are required to open the correction window and get it corrected. “Instant PAN” allotment facility is available on the Income Tax Portal, Government of India instant E-PAN page. The data in the Aadhar database is directly taken without any modification or addition to availing this facility. the mobile number of the person must be included in the Aadhaar- database to verify the authenticity of a person through OTP.
4. Aadhaar
All details given in the birth certificate, PAN and Aadhaar must be the same. Aadhar can be enrolled and updated in selected post offices over India, Akshaya Centre all over Kerala, and Common Service Center (CSC) all over India. Initially, Aadhaar was not accepted as an authentic identity document by a few organizations and systems, but later Aadhar become the most demanded authentication document in India.
Minor can avail of Aadhaar. At the age of 15, it is compulsory to update Aadhaar. Kindly ensure the correctness of the Name of the Aadhaar holder, date of birth, name of father/mother/ spouse, address, etc. Mismatch if any, kindly get it corrected
5. Bank account
Once, having a bank account was considered an elite’s privilege, the common man abstained from approaching banks for their needs. Things changed since the nationalization of banks initiated by the then-prime minister Mrs Indira Gandhi. Priority sector lending and loans to start self-employment projects became popular in the pre-liberalization era as well as the post-liberalization era. Now, banking services became an essential service for all populations irrespective of class differences. As per RBI guidelines a minor aged 10 can open a bank account and operate independently supported with ATM card, cheque book and internet banking. At the age of 18, it is required to update the bank account by furnishing fresh KYC. Giving accurate data in a bank account is critically important.
During 2020 September, a series of webinars by the Income Tax department CPC Bangalore in consultation with ICAI were conducted on different days for all regions of ICAI and a special seminar for the Goa CA fraternity. The webinar highlighted the best practice by suggesting to the Tax Consulting fraternity to advocate to their clients the importance of giving the same mobile number, e-mail ID as well as Name (including the order of name), in PAN, Aadhar, and Bank Account for the smooth and convenient present as well as future transactions having legal impact. This best practice will ease the issue of refund as well as prompt completion of compliance. From the point of view of financial transactions and taxation, this best practice will make difficult things easy and remove chaos in the system.
The point to be noted is that the name printed on the pan card and the order of name in the PAN - database may vary creating complications during
Aadhar linking
PAN registration for e-filing of ITR
Bank account pre-validation in the IT portal for refund.
The best practice is to be aware of the first name, middle name, last name order in the pan database and accordingly change the other two databases - Aadhar and Bank Account.
Parents kindly note that PAN, Aadhar, and Bank Accounts are realities of India and please keep in mind the above-mentioned points while naming your kids.
6. Minor-PPF, Investment in capital commodities and the money market can be possible through parents/ guardian
Children’s education has become an expensive affair, all parents will require a corpus of money when their children attain their milestone ages concerning Education, wedding, and married life. This was a traditional phenomenon but recently along with new trends, the children as well as parents became more aspirational about educational choices. Earlier, professional higher studies were the expensive options whereas now even kindergartens have also become part of the lifestyle choices of parents and add to the expansivity of education. Educational institutions are spreading like chain shops with unique branding with celebrities as brand ambassadors. The population of parents and children are infected with this evil pandemic dumbed by imperialist capitalists. Peer pressure adds to this infection. Observing all these trends, the cost of higher education going to remain and grow expensive year on year. So, planning for the required corpus is imperative for the bright future of every child.
7. Demat and trading account
A Demat account with a depository (NSDL & CDSL) and trading account with a stock broker is a pre-requisite to invest in the capital commodity and forex market. Stockbrokers also being depository participants, a customer can approach a stock broker for all those accounts. The majority of products in this category are subject to market risk so the customer need to have enough knowledge to manage the risk. It is advisable to open a Demat account and start investing in Capital, commodity, and money markets as early as possible to tap the power of compounding and inflation-adjusted returns in the long term.
8. Passport.
A passport is a fundamental identity document that is required for a person to go anywhere abroad. It has not much relevance for a person who is not at all desirous of going abroad. For a person who is interested or required to go abroad, he needs to obtain a passport from the issuing authority of India. Earlier the procedures were cumbersome and agents prevailed as an inevitable intermediary to obtain it. With the help of information technology obtaining a passport is quick at the fingertips of an individual. One can get a passport in 3 days. Usually, the passport documentation is very strict due to which mistakes are very rare. A passport once obtained is a valid proof of identity, address, and date of birth so that it can be submitted to obtain another document like PAN, driving license, etc.
9. Marriage certificate of parents (optional)
To support the relationship proof – This document helps to establish a mutual relationship whenever such a requirement arises from the ruling authority. This might emerge during migrating to other countries and children going abroad for higher studies, documentation on overseas employment, and interview with the consulate. The marriage certificate is useful, for example in a scenario when a stranger comes asking share of property of the Parents claiming that he or she too is the offspring of the parent. When we have with us the marriage certificate of our parents and birth certificate of self, the onus of proving the claim of the stranger rests with the stranger.
10. If Married- Marriage Certificate issued by Registrar of Marriage.
Marriage happens in many ways in India, India is predominantly a religion-oriented country, and the wedding ceremony is happening usually in the religious system. Such marriage ceremonies are valid as per Indian law and the rights and obligations of the marriage can be enforced through the court of law based on the personal law applicable for each religion. To reduce disputes in inter-religion marriages a Special Marriage Act 1954 was passed by the Indian parliament to appropriately enforce the rights and obligations of both parties in the marriage in inter-religion marriage. As the special marriage Act is a very secular legislation, registering the marriage as per the special marriage act became popular and in certain circumstances, it became mandatory. (Couples together trying to go abroad for settling) Kindly ensure the correctness of the details given in the certificate
Ladies, please do not use the name of your husband along with their name that will create legal problems when documentation is done.
11. Health Insurance.
All over the globe diseases are increasing day by day, India is also witnessing unprecedented emergencies in the healthcare and medical orbit. As India is a developing country the health facilities are yet to develop as to the developed nations of the world. India is facing a very unique situation that cannot be compared to any other part of the world because of the population explosion in the limited geographical area with insufficient medical infrastructure. Medical infrastructure in India is gradually developing especially through corporate investments in the healthcare sector. On one side of the coin, there is an excellent medical facility with very high cost at private or coprprate health care environment but on the other side the Government hospitals with their minimum infrastructure scattering to the mass population. Expensivity of better medical care is a reality and appropriate health insurance cover have the potential to provide inclusion to all the population towards better health care. The global pandemic taught us a lesson that predicting a healthcare emergency is almost impossible. Diseases are a reality and any how we need to address them. Health insurance is the ideal solution if it is appropriately designed and established in a country. The health insurance industry in India is also only in its initial growth phase and the market to be tapped is huge compared to the population. On the micro level, having sufficient health insurance coverage for every member of a family is an unavoidable and essential requirement. If not availed, it can drain all the wealth of a family in a matter of seconds and can trap them in debt also. In India, IRDAI (insurance regulatory and Development Authority of India) is not only regulating but also proactively monitoring the health insurance industry by compelling the insurance companies for capital adequacy and sufficient increase in premium year on year. From the customer's point of view, the regulator is insisting upon the insurance companies Make the features uniform for each category of insurance product so that the customer can understand and compare health insurance products and can comply with the terms and conditions and exclusions. As the industry develops and matures the regulator can insist upon reducing the exclusions in health policy to promote the public interest, considering the requirements of an overpopulated country.
It is advisable to have health insurance coverage. Details given in the policy certificate are to be checked.
12. Cancer care Life Membership(optional)
“Once it was one in a thousand but now it is one in the family”
This is how the disease of cancer is spreading in India. A lot of new treatment methods and medicines are evolving for cancer which is reducing the fatality of the disease but definitely, the cost side is increasing. Various types of cancer care policies are available in the market. When it was one in a thousand, cancer care institutions themselves created certain insurance schemes which were good and catered to the emerging need for cancer treatment. As the number of patients increased gradually these institutions stepped out from this initiative and now the insurance companies play the role mainly in a business-like model. Cancer care policies can be bought from life insurance companies as well as health insurance companies. Life insurance companies give this facility as a rider to their main policy. Initially, they called it a critical illness rider now dedicated cancer care policies are issued. Health insurance companies also provide dedicated Cancer Care policies. So it is essential to take a Mediclaim insurance policy by every individual.
13. Driving License
In India license is required to drive vehicles beyond certain characteristic parameters. Genuine needs as well as non-genuine wants motivate people to buy vehicles so the population of vehicles is disproportionately increasing compared with the road infrastructure available. This overcrowdedness itself is creating a lot of accidents. An adequate licensing system and its enforcement is the need of the hour. India is also imitating the middle east concerning fines and penalties imposed on traffic rule violations. Apart from the intention of the law regarding licensing for driving, a Driving license is also considered a valid identity, address, and date of birth proving document. Ensure that the details on the driving license are correct and up to date. A driving License needs to be renewed periodically. Everybody should inspect their Driving License validity and ensure that it is renewed before it crosses the validity date.
14. Bank Locker (Optional)
Apart from the basic banking services, the majority of bank branches offer the facility of a locker for customers to safely keep their valuables (jewelry, property documents) electronic memory gadgets and currencies, etc. depending upon the banking service availed by the customer the formalities demanded by the bank to open a locker facility may vary. Certain banks insist to open a Fixed Deposit also for availing locker facility. When it comes to such a locker facility many customers forget about the fixed deposit opened as a requirement to avail the locker facility. They keep these deposit receipts along with other investment documents. Usually, the locker will be having two keys, one key is given to the customer, and the other is kept by bank managers. Both keys are required to open the locker. Safe-keeping this key is of utmost importance because once the key is lost, opening the locker is a very elaborate process attracting very many legal formalities. It is essential to take insurance for the safety of the bank locker from robbery from the facilitator itself and periodical KYC updation is also suggested to keep the holder active in the eyes of the facilitator.
15. NPS-New Pension Scheme, Govt. of India
All developed countries have social security measures that automatically take care of people once they attain a certain age. It is assumed to be the age of retirement. Underdeveloped countries do not have sufficient social security schemes. Developing countries like India always tried to do something in response to the need for social security. The introduction of NPS and opening it to all citizens of India in 2010, was a breakthrough moment through which potentially all citizens of India can avail regular monthly pensions in their golden age. Those who are in the unorganized sector avail NPS facility aiming to get a pension at their retirement age and many people in the organized sector avail of this facility both as an additional income during retirement time as well as to take additional income tax benefit offered for NPS under section 80 CCD (1) (b) of IT act 1961.
The National Pension Scheme is a social security initiative by the Central Government. This pension program is open to employees from the public, private, and even the unorganized sectors. It is advisable for Professionals and people working in the private sector to join NPS. Initially, it is a market-oriented pension scheme mainly for Govt. staff since 2010 it is open to all individuals who can join it for old age protection/corpus.
16. Election ID/ Electors Photo Identity Card
The election is a festival of democracy where the citizen gets a unique and great opportunity to elect their leaders. Going through many electoral reforms, an election id card was proposed and instituted to curb the various malpractices that prevailed along with the electoral process. The election id card was the first popular identity card issued to Indian citizens with their photo. It also serves as general identity, address, and age proof for other purposes such as buying a mobile phone SIM card or applying for a passport. It also serves as a Travel Document to travel to Nepal and Bhutan by Land or Air.
17. Ration Card.
A ration card is a document through which all the Indian household get their minimum supply of necessities. Ration cards are an official document issued by state governments in India to households that are eligible to purchase subsidized food grain from the Public Distribution System. It is necessary to link a ration card with an Aadhaar card so that you can easily get all the facilities coming from the government.
18. Mobile (Cellular Phone and Smart Phone)
The globe has become a single village because of mobile telephonic technology. As it is applied in a multi-dimensional way in all walks of life, the life of the people has been radically changed since its inception. People can save logistics of time thereby improving their efficiency productivity and scale of activity. Therefore it is necessary to have a cellular mobile number. Development in communication technology coupled with governance reforms in India enabled the Aadhaar-based identity authentication through OTP (One Time Password) to become a new mantra replacing physical signing and personally visiting various govt and other offices. If one smartphone is adopted by everyone in the country, there will happen a knowledge revolution that can disrupt the already established systems of learning but will improve the inclusiveness in education.
19. House/Flat, Vehicle, Gas Connection (Optional).
Similar to humans the houses/flat, and vehicles are also having identity documents. We need to have a clear understanding of the lineage (the sequence of past ownership) of the property in which the house is built. One must make sure that the details as per the land records with the government concerning our property should be the same as we think and we possess through documents. A mismatch may happen due to mistakes as well as the legal and technical changes in land record management by the government. It is required to pay land tax and building tax promptly.
Owning a vehicle and running a vehicle on a public road can attract legal consequences. The ownership records must be perfect. While taking the vehicle to a public road, the following document must be there in the vehicle
RC Book or card original or attested by the gusseted officer.
Insurance document covering at least third party and passengers if it is a passenger vehicle.
Driving license of the person driving the vehicle.
Pollution under control certificate to be obtained every 6 months. Keep a compliance calendar in this matter.
Intimate any change in ownership immediately to the RTO. Intimate to RTO, immediately if the registered owner passes away. Scraping a life-ended vehicle also should be done following legal procedures.
Depending on the earning capacity and the location of the resident and the proximity between the residence and the office, an individual may choose to own a vehicle or avail using public transport facilities. Think twice before going for luxury.
Gas Connection
Gas connection in India is a controversial subject used by political parties for their electoral gains. The price of cooking gas increases always and it affects the monthly budget of households. Increasing the price of non-domestic gas cylinders add to the inflation in cooked food products and affects the budget of the family in their eating out plans. Gas cylinders must be used with utmost care and diligence. Absent-mindedness can cause fatal harm. The gas stove should be maintained periodically. During repairs, ensure that quality spares are used. Sometimes it is observed that accurately matching spares are missing in the industry. The authorized dealers are hesitant to give authentic spares. Recently it is noticed that there happens a mismatch in the size of the cylinder-neck and the regulator of the stove necessitating calling the technician always. The technicians do some Jugad which will add to the risk of using LPG gas for cooking in households. During changing the cylinders due care should be given to the regulator. Many a time casual approach makes the regulator fall to the floor, hitting the ground, causing subtle cracks in the regulator and will make gas leak from the cylinder attracting a fatally dangerous situation. Click a picture of a regulator using a mobile phone and observe it by zooming the picture may help discover a subtle crack in the regulator.
20. Website-Registered Domain with Email ID-(optional)
The smartphone has become an inevitable element in a family. Usually during activation of a new smartphone, they are supposed to give an email ID which in many ways is an essential thing helping us in many ways in retaining the contact details by saving in google drive. This also helps in syncing our data with different devices. So abstaining from creating and using email ID is suicidal. Earlier professionals create their own websites. After the popularity of social media such tiny website creations lost their importance. When the person’s professional practice potentially grows beyond the scope of social media to create a distinct identity and brand image a dedicated and quality website will become necessary. Creating and maintaining a website comes at a cost and effort. Usually, the work is outsourced to a dedicated service provider. Once such a website is in place, we can leverage the use of social media also collaborating them with the website. At present creating and maintaining a quality website may require an annual subscription starting from Rs.15000 and also may have monthly payments if digital marketing and social media management is also availed. Analyze your need uniquely and decide on the matter.
21. Will Deed & Nomination
Each and every individual in a family may have some personal possession of their own. They may desire to pass it on to someone in their absence. Having a will absolutely helps to pass this possession to the desired persons or persons. For example, a person may have a collection of books that he will be happy to pass on to someone who appreciates books or donate to some library rather than giving those books a faith to be sold as scrap by blood relatives. So having a will is good. It is always good to register a will especially when there is a chance of dispute and the presence of a public cause.
Kindly ensure nomination is filed everywhere as per rules for all financial assets, including registered mutual funds, investments, insurance policies, bank accounts, lockers, and other investments. The death of a person without a nominee or Will Deed creates legal problems like the requirement of a certificate of legal heirship and succession certificate from a court of Law. When approaching probate under a will or obtaining a legal heir certificate or succession certificate, any kind of mistake or mismatch in the official identity documents of the legal heirs can create difficulties eating a lot of time and energy. So in a family, an audit into the accuracy of identity and other documents and taking needed corrections is seriously recommended.
22. DigiLocker
DigiLocker is a digitization service provided by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under its Digital India initiative. It is an initiative towards paperless governance that allows access to digital versions of various documents including driver's licenses, vehicle registration certificates, and academic mark sheets. It aims to provide a digital wallet to every citizen so that all lifelong documents can be accessed anywhere anytime including educational, identity, health records, certificates, and electronically without any risk of loss or damage. The account can be opened by visiting https://www.digilocker.gov.in/. Unique credentials are created using mobile OTPs and the Linking of an Aadhaar card to a Digilocker account brings additional benefits. Kindly open and operate DigiLocker so that an individual can download documents from or through DigiLocker, upload other documents, and e-sign them. Digilocker documents are at par with the Original.
23. Digital signature certificate (Optional)
In simple terms, putting a signature electronically is called a digital signature. This has the absolute validity of a physical signature. Sometimes it has more authenticity and validity. In India there exists mainly 3 categories of DSC 1) Individuals or private subscribers for personal use. 2) both individuals and organizations to sign documents and file returns with the registrar of companies (ROC). 3) for e-tendering and e-auctions. As per the information technology Act 2000 (as amended 2008), affixing dsc is legally valid at par with a physical signature. Affixing DSC is a procedure. This involves a hardware part and a software part. the software part consists of a private key and a public key. the private key is used to sign electronic documents and forms, while the public key is used to verify the signature. When we obtain a dsc we get a thumb drive in which the signature certificate as well as the public key is stored. To affix the DSC one has to plug the thumb drive into the digital gadget simultaneously imputing the secret private key (like a password) to complete the signing process. The DSC validity ranges from one year to three years. Those who use DSC should track the validity and renew it before expiring the validity.
24. Educational Qualifications & Experience certificate
It is recommended to maintain a comprehensive record of educational documents starting from the kindergarten stage onwards. These documents should be chronologically organized and stored digitally in platforms like Digilocker. Examples of documents to keep include ID cards admit cards, mark sheets, migration certificates, transfer certificates, pass certificates, training certificates, enrollment documents, and research work. It is important to ensure that experience certificates are formatted in a manner acceptable to entities such as Employment Exchanges, Public Service Commissions (PSC), Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Multinational corporations (MNCs), and other International organizations. By maintaining a systematic and standardized record of educational documents, you can enhance your efficiency in accessing and presenting the necessary information when required.
“New Age” is a reality in the educational sector. Skill India, an innovative and game-changing initiative, has played a significant role in providing skill education to all Indian citizens, eliminating entry barriers and reducing costs. The current government's New Education Policy, in conjunction with the Skill India initiative, has brought about a paradigm shift in the conception, perception, delivery, assessment, and certification of educational courses. However, this new reality is currently undergoing a transition phase, and the existing educational system will require time to fully adapt to these new policies.
During this transformation, the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian youth has been thriving, with educational enterprises swiftly embracing the new paradigm. The use of Digilocker has made the processing and receipt of various certificates related to these developments more convenient and expedited. By leveraging Digilocker, individuals can easily access and manage their educational certificates, facilitating a smoother and faster verification process.
25. Land and Buildings.
Please verify that the details of your land and building, as stated in the title deed, are accurately recorded with the registrar portal, revenue department portal, and local body portal. It is crucial to ensure consistency between the information provided in the title deed and the documentation held by these authorities. Recently, the Government has introduced a system that allows owners to link their Aadhaar with their registered immovable property. This process offers benefits both to the owner and the government authorities. It is highly recommended to take advantage of this facility, as it provides an additional layer of assurance regarding ownership authenticity and enables transparent disclosure of the properties owned by an individual.
It is crucial to ensure that the registered owner of the land and building can transfer the property without encountering any legal obstacles or documentation difficulties. Merely fulfilling tax obligations with the local authority does not guarantee that the property can be freely and easily transferred. Similar to the process followed when purchasing a property, conducting an investigation into the transferability of your own property as a one-time exercise can help uncover any legal or procedural anomalies that may hinder its transferability. By undertaking such due diligence, you can address any issues and ensure a smooth transfer process in the future.
26. Income Tax return
According to the Income Tax Act of 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act each year), individuals with a gross income exceeding the prescribed exemption limit are legally obligated to file their Income Tax Returns within the specified due dates, based on different categories of assesses (non-audit, audit case, transfer pricing). Strictly adhering to this rule, millions of Indians are currently defaulting on this legal requirement.
Under the old tax regime, the exemption limit for individuals up to the age of 60 is Rs. 2,50,000, while under the new regime, it is Rs. 3,00,000. For individuals aged above 60 but up to 80, the exemption limit is Rs. 3,00,000 under both regimes. Super senior citizens (aged 80 and above) have an exemption limit of Rs. 5,00,000 under the old regime. Gross income refers to the total income from all heads of income defined in the Income Tax Act of 1961, including income from single and multiple sources within each head.
Despite the legal requirement, awareness of this filing obligation is yet to be appropriately spread among the population. In addition to being a mandated procedure, Filing an income tax return provides multiple benefits for individuals, including proving their source of income and earning capacity, buying insurance policies of high sum assured, claiming insurance, seeking compensation, securing bank borrowings, presenting proof for visa applications, and obtaining an individual rating.
27. Death certificate of Great- Grandparents/ Grandparents/parents.
In India, the local self-government issues death certificates. These certificates are necessary to ensure the rightful inheritance of ancestral properties in the absence of parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, as they serve as proof of their demise. I kindly request everyone who reads this article to take the time to thoroughly examine their profiles and related documents, striving to make their profile documentation as perfect as possible.
Mercy Daviz
Company Secretary Licentiate