Reviewed on: 2026-07-04.
Your Annual Information Statement (AIS) shows rent income and TDS under Section 194-IB against your PAN, but you own and let out no property. In almost every case a tenant has filed Form 26QC quoting a wrong landlord PAN that happens to be yours. The fix is AIS feedback on the e-filing portal, a 26QC correction by the tenant on TRACES, and an RTI to the Income Tax Department only if your portal grievance goes unanswered. The Central RTI fee is Rs 10 and the CPIO must reply within 30 days.
It is the second week of July 2026, and Anjali, a salaried credit analyst in Pune, logs in to the Income Tax e-filing portal to download her AIS before filing her return for assessment year 2026-27 (financial year 2025-26). She scrolls to Part B, and there under the head Rent received sits Rs 6,00,000, with TDS of Rs 12,000 deducted against her PAN. She owns no house, has never let one out, and has never received a rupee of rent from anyone. The figure is large enough to move her into a higher tax slab if she ignores it.
What happened to Anjali is almost never fraud. Somewhere in a suburb of the same city, a corporate tenant paying monthly rent above Rs 50,000 deducted TDS under Section 194-IB and filed Form 26QC on TRACES. In the challan-cum-statement the tenant entered a landlord PAN that differs from the real landlord's by a single transposed character, and that wrong PAN is Anjali's. The Income Tax Department's system faithfully attached the rent and the TDS credit to her PAN, and pushed the entry into her AIS. A second, less common source is an HRA declaration: an employee somewhere quoted Anjali's PAN as their landlord's to claim house rent allowance exemption, and the employer reported that rent trail.
Both situations leave a rent trail on a stranger's statement. Both are fixable without a lawyer, without meeting any officer, and without paying anyone. This guide walks through the AIS-feedback route, the TRACES 26QC-correction route, the e-Verification Scheme 2021 trap that bites the careless, and the narrow but real place where the Right to Information Act forces the Income Tax Department to tell you why your grievance is stuck.
The Annual Information Statement is a consolidated statement of financial information reported about a taxpayer by third parties: banks, employers, mutual funds, registrars, and tenants who deduct TDS. It is governed by Section 285BB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, read with Rule 114-I, and is generated by the Directorate of Systems under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The AIS feeds the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS), and the TIS values flow into the pre-filled return of income. A wrong entry in the AIS is not itself an assessment, but it shapes what the Department's risk system sees when it compares your return against reported information.
A rent entry with TDS in the AIS almost always traces back to a Form 26QC filing. Form 26QC is the challan-cum-statement used under Section 194-IB when an individual or HUF, who is not covered by a tax audit under Section 44AB, pays monthly rent exceeding Rs 50,000 to a resident landlord. The tenant deducts TDS once, for the last month of the financial year or the last month of the tenancy, whichever is earlier, and files Form 26QC on TRACES within 30 days from the end of the month in which the tax was deducted. No TAN is required; the filing carries only the tenant's PAN and the landlord's PAN, the rent amount, the property address, and the period of tenancy. A one-character error in the landlord PAN is all it takes to land the entire rent entry on the wrong person's AIS.
The Income Tax Department is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005. It operates under the CBDT, the Department of Revenue, and the Ministry of Finance. Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) are designated at every level: the jurisdictional Income Tax Officer (ITO) ward or circle is the CPIO for assessment records, Deputy and Assistant Commissioners (DCIT/ACIT) are CPIOs for their circles, and Additional or Joint Commissioners (Addl./JCIT) serve as CPIOs and also as First Appellate Authorities at the range level. For CBDT policy and Directorate of Systems matters, the CPIO sits at the Department of Revenue headquarters at North Block, New Delhi. This matters later, because an RTI about a stuck grievance must go to the right CPIO.
Why this matters for your RTI. The AIS and Form 26AS are maintained by the CBDT's Directorate of Systems (DGIT Systems). When a portal grievance about a wrong AIS entry does not move, the actionable information is not the third party's PAN or tenant particulars (which are barred by Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act) but the status and action taken on your own grievance. Frame your RTI around your grievance number, not around the stranger's identity, and the Department has to answer.
Understanding the mechanics tells you what to ask for at each stage.
The second source, an HRA declaration, works differently. An employee claims house rent allowance exemption by submitting rent receipts and the landlord's PAN to their employer. If the employee quotes a wrong PAN, the employer's TDS return carries rent paid “to” that PAN, and an HRA-related entry can surface in the AIS. There is no TRACES correction for HRA reporting; the only fix there is AIS feedback plus a request to the employee to correct their declaration with their employer.
Two changes shape how you handle this in 2026.
1. The Section 194-IB rate was cut from 5 per cent to 2 per cent effective 1 October 2024. The Finance Act 2024, announced in the Budget of 23 July 2024, reduced the TDS rate on rent under Section 194-IB from 5 per cent to 2 per cent with effect from 1 October 2024. For tenancy periods that straddle the change, the 5 per cent rate applies up to 30 September 2024 and the 2 per cent rate from 1 October 2024. During the temporary COVID relief period (14 May 2020 to 31 March 2021) the rate was 3.75 per cent. For financial year 2025-26, which is what most readers filing in July 2026 are dealing with, the applicable rate is 2 per cent. A rent entry in your AIS for FY 2025-26 showing TDS at 5 per cent is itself a red flag that the filing was botched, because the 2 per cent rate should have applied. Conversely, 2 per cent of Rs 6,00,000 is Rs 12,000, which is the figure Anjali saw.
2. The e-Verification Scheme, 2021 carries a 15-day response window. Notified by the CBDT on 13 December 2021 (Notification No. 137/2021) under Section 135A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the scheme allows the Department to issue a notice under Section 133(6) when a mismatch is found between your return and third-party reported information. The default response due date is 15 days from the date of the notice, extendable on request to the Prescribed Authority. A separate 90-day period applies at the initial information-confirmation stage before a case escalates to the CIT(e-Verification). If you ignore a wrong rent entry and the Department's risk engine flags it, you can be pulled into this scheme, and the 15-day clock is far shorter than the 30-day RTI clock. Submitting AIS feedback before you file your return usually prevents the mismatch from being raised at all.
For drafting the application, the AI RTI drafting tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html can structure your questions, and the PIO reply checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html will tell you whether the reply you get is complete or a deflection. Use the timeline calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html to track your 30-day reply and 30-day first-appeal deadlines so neither lapses.
Anjali D., Pune, July 2026. On 12 July 2026, Anjali opened her AIS for financial year 2025-26 and found Rs 6,00,000 of rent with TDS of Rs 12,000 under Section 194-IB. She owns no property. The TDS figure matched the 2 per cent rate applicable from 1 October 2024, confirming a recent 26QC filing. The deductor particulars in the AIS pointed to a company employee in Baner whose landlord's PAN differed from Anjali's by one transposed character.
On 12 July she submitted AIS feedback as Information relates to other PAN/Year and downloaded the ACF PDF. On 13 July she emailed the tenant with her PAN card copy and a one-paragraph explanation. The tenant logged in to TRACES on 14 July, raised a Form 26QC correction request, and on 17 July (after the request showed as “Available”) edited the landlord PAN and e-Verified through net banking. The correction was processed and the rent line moved off Anjali's PAN.
Anjali filed her ITR on 28 July 2026, declaring her salary income only, and retained the ACF PDF. Total cost: Rs 0. No RTI was needed because the tenant acted. Had the tenant ignored her, her next step would have been a portal grievance, and if that too went unanswered for 30 days, an RTI on rtionline.gov.in for Rs 10 to the CPIO of her jurisdictional ITO ward asking for the status and action taken on the grievance.
Use this only after you have filed a portal grievance and 30 days have passed without a meaningful response. Replace the bracketed fields with your details.
To The Central Public Information Officer [ITO Ward/Circle, City] / Directorate of Systems (DGIT Systems), Income Tax Department, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. Sub: Application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Sir/Madam, I, [Full Name], PAN [XXXXXXXXX], resident of [Full Address], hereby seek the following information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, in respect of grievance no. [grievance number] dated [date] submitted by me on the Income Tax e-filing portal regarding a wrong rent entry of Rs [amount] with TDS of Rs [amount] under Section 194-IB reflected in my Annual Information Statement for financial year [YYYY-YY], against a property I do not own and rent I have never received. 1. The present status of grievance no. [grievance number] dated [date]. 2. The name and designation of the officer handling the said grievance. 3. The action taken, if any, on the said grievance, with dates. 4. If no action has been taken, the reasons recorded for the inaction. 5. The expected date by which the wrong entry will be removed from my AIS or the matter will be taken up with the deductor under the e-Verification Scheme, 2021. I clarify that I am not seeking the personal information, PAN, address, or tenant particulars of any third party, which I understand is exempt under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005. I seek only the status and action taken on my own grievance. The application fee of Rs 10 is being paid online through the RTI Online portal (rtionline.gov.in). I request that the information be supplied to me electronically, in the form of a written reply, as is my right under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005. If the information is denied in whole or in part, I request that the specific section of the RTI Act on which the denial is based be cited, and that my right to file a first appeal under Section 19(1) within 30 days be intimated to me. Date: [date] Place: [city] [Full Name], PAN [XXXXXXXXX], [email], [mobile]
No. You declare your actual income under Section 4 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Submit AIS feedback so the record reflects your position, keep the ACF PDF, and file your return with the correct figures. The pre-filled return may still carry the rent until the AIS refreshes; override it with the right number.
No. AIS entries are information, not assessments. Notices come when large reported amounts stay unexplained after the Department's risk engine compares your return with third-party information. Feedback submitted before you file usually closes the gap and prevents a Section 133(6) notice under the e-Verification Scheme, 2021.
For a 26QC-based entry, the AIS itself shows the deductor or reporting entity details. Beyond that, RTI will not give you another person's particulars, because personal information of a third party is exempt under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005. Route identification through a portal grievance instead, and use RTI only to ask for the status of that grievance.
Use the Information is not fully correct feedback option and enter the true amount you actually received. Then ask your actual tenant to file a 26QC correction on TRACES updating the rent figure and, if needed, the landlord PAN. Keep the ACF PDF showing both the reported and modified values.
Under Section 194-IB, the rate is 2 per cent from 1 October 2024 onwards, after the Finance Act 2024 cut it from 5 per cent. For FY 2025-26 the 2 per cent rate applies throughout. A 5 per cent figure on a FY 2025-26 entry is a clue that the filing was botched. For older years, remember the 3.75 per cent COVID rate applied from 14 May 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Submit the same AIS feedback. There is no TRACES correction for HRA reporting, so the feedback plus a portal grievance is the route. If a colleague or relative used your PAN, ask them to correct their rent declaration with their employer so the next quarter's TDS return carries the right PAN.
No. After feedback, the entry stays visible with both the reported value and your modified value side by side. The reported value disappears only when the deductor corrects the source filing, that is, the 26QC on TRACES. This is why feedback alone is not enough for a 26QC-based entry; the tenant's correction is the real fix.
Usually it is a typo. But if the same PAN appears in multiple HRA claims or rent entries you never received income for, someone may be using your PAN to fabricate rent receipts. Submit AIS feedback for each entry, keep copies, and state in your portal grievance that you suspect misuse. You are not liable for tax on income you never earned, but the documentary trail protects you. Persistent misuse can be reported in writing to your jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
File the RTI only after you have filed a portal grievance and 30 days have passed without a meaningful response. The RTI asks for the status and action taken on that grievance, not for the third party's identity. Pay Rs 10 on rtionline.gov.in, address it to the CPIO of your jurisdictional ITO ward (or the DGIT Systems CPIO for AIS infrastructure issues), and expect a reply within 30 days under Section 7(1). If the reply is evasive, file a first appeal under Section 19(1) within 30 days.
The Rs 10 fee applies to Central public authorities like the Income Tax Department under the RTI Rules, 2012, payable online through rtionline.gov.in. Below-poverty-line applicants are exempt on producing a certificate. First appeals carry no fee. For state public authorities the fee varies; see rti-fees-by-state for the state-wise schedule.
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*This page explains the statutory and procedural position as of July 2026. It is not a substitute for a tax practitioner. If a wrong rent entry has appeared in your AIS, act on the same day, in writing, and keep every acknowledgement.*
If this guide helped you, draft your application with the AI RTI tool at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html , check any reply you receive with https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html , and track your 30-day deadlines with https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html .