Senior citizen taken for a ride

BANGALORE: This senior citizen was little aware that saving money in a postal department would make him run from pillar to post.Sixty-four-year old P V Pai is literally running behind post office officials to get his Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) certificate, without which his deduction amount will not be remitted from the Income Tax department.Pai opted for National Savings Scheme (NSS) of 1987 at Uppinangadi post office. In 2010, Pai decided to take his savings back. Out of the total amount of `4,96,063, he would receive only `3,93,875 and the remaining `1,02,188 was deducted as TDS. When he approached the Uppinangadi sub postmaster office, they gave him a TDS certificate. “But when I produced the same certificate at the IT department, IT department officials said that this certificate is not proper and ordered me to pay the TDS amount which is `1,02,188,” he said.Pai, further said that this is because the TDS certificate which was issued did not have sufficient details like PAN card number, date and challan number of deposit of tax into Central Government account and name of the bank and branch where the tax is deposited. “Without those details, IT department is unable to track the credit in IT form 26AS and process my IT return for the assessment year 2011-12,” he said.Subsequently, Pai requested the Uppinangadi sub postmaster office on October 24, 2011 to provide the proper TDS certificate, which they have not provided so far. Another letter was written on January 4, 2012, to the Central post office, Puttur, but no reply has come from them. Again, on March 4 2012, Pai wrote a letter to Chief Post Master General, Bangalore requesting him to provide the certificate, but did not receive the same.It looks like there is some hope for Pai now. When contacted A V Koti, Senior Accounts officer, said that they have requested Director of Accounts to provide Tax Identification Number (TIN) of Pai. They have promised to give it in another 10 to 12 days. “Once we get the TIN, even the IT department would be able to find the TDS,” he said.