It will also facilitate resolution of cases of one PAN allotted to multiple persons," minister of state for finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar told Parliament, while disclosing the number of PANs that have been deactivated.

The minister also said that 1,566 PANs have been identified as "fake", which were allotted to either non-existent person or in the names of persons with false identities.

During 2004 to 2007, the government had undertaken an exercise to do away with duplicate PANs.

The department has launched a facility to check if one`s PAN is valid or not, for which one needs to visit the income tax e-filing website (incometaxindiaefiling.gov. in) and choose the services tab and then go to 'know your PAN'.

Then, one needs to fill up the required information to know the status based on a one-time password that will be sent to his or her registered mobile.