New Delhi: A day after the Income Tax Portal went “unavailable”, Finance Ministry Said on Sunday that he “called” Infosys CEO Salil Parekh will on Monday explain why the errors have not been corrected even after two and a half months of the platform’s launch.
Although “emergency maintenance” of the site was completed on Sunday evening, and it went live again, the closure caused considerable embarrassment. On Saturday, Infosys tweeted about “planned maintenance”, though tax department He remained silent about it until around 2 pm on Sunday, when he tweeted about the Infosys CEO being “summoned”. Meanwhile, users received a message which said, “The portal is undergoing maintenance”.
Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj was regularly monitoring the issue and the glitches would be rectified soon.
Government officials have asked Parekh to meet again on Monday.
This is the second time that the government has publicly named Infosys in the matter. Two months ago, hours after its June 7 launch, company executives held consultations with the FM and other stakeholders after concerns were flagged on social media.
Sunday’s tweet points to the government’s growing impatience on the quality of service provided by Infosys GST Network And MCA-21 (for Corporate Filing and Database) are other assignments where the role of the Indian tech giant comes under the lens. While the government has repeatedly blamed the IT vendor for problems with the new income tax portal, it has not commented on how a faulty system was allowed to go live by officials handling the high-profile project. Some of his colleagues and former tax officials have suggested that not enough tests were done before the system was introduced.
A source said that the portal was ready for launch only last year, but the rollout was planned to be done in phases, a decision which was changed later. a questionnaire sent to Central Board of Direct Taxes remained unanswered on Sunday, while Bajaj did not respond to text messages. In the past too, tax officials have refused to give any explanation on how the department failed to spot several glitches in the platform. The problems with the portal have already prompted the tax department to make some concessions. Further, officials have blamed the glitches for the huge slowdown in tax refunds.
Between April and August 16, refunds increased to Rs 49,696 crore as against Rs 96,000 crore between April and August 25 last year. The number of refunds exceeded 25.5 lakhs as on August 25, 2020, which has come down to 22.7 lakhs so far this year. Further, repeated disruptions have led to the demand for postponement of the deadline for filing returns, apart from seeking other exemptions.
Though some experts had suggested that the earlier system be rolled back till the issues in the new portal are resolved, Sitharaman has ruled out the possibility. A prominent CA said, “Many issues have been resolved, but new problems are emerging.”
“The new e-filing portal was expected to replace the existing e-filing portal. It was seen to create a strong technology backbone by enabling
(a) Host of new functionalities for taxpayers, including enhanced look, feel and usage experience. The Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, in a letter to the FM on August 11, said, “We regret to say that even after a lapse of more than two months, the portal is still not functioning and is facing several serious problems.
Although “emergency maintenance” of the site was completed on Sunday evening, and it went live again, the closure caused considerable embarrassment. On Saturday, Infosys tweeted about “planned maintenance”, though tax department He remained silent about it until around 2 pm on Sunday, when he tweeted about the Infosys CEO being “summoned”. Meanwhile, users received a message which said, “The portal is undergoing maintenance”.
Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj was regularly monitoring the issue and the glitches would be rectified soon.
Government officials have asked Parekh to meet again on Monday.
This is the second time that the government has publicly named Infosys in the matter. Two months ago, hours after its June 7 launch, company executives held consultations with the FM and other stakeholders after concerns were flagged on social media.
Sunday’s tweet points to the government’s growing impatience on the quality of service provided by Infosys GST Network And MCA-21 (for Corporate Filing and Database) are other assignments where the role of the Indian tech giant comes under the lens. While the government has repeatedly blamed the IT vendor for problems with the new income tax portal, it has not commented on how a faulty system was allowed to go live by officials handling the high-profile project. Some of his colleagues and former tax officials have suggested that not enough tests were done before the system was introduced.
A source said that the portal was ready for launch only last year, but the rollout was planned to be done in phases, a decision which was changed later. a questionnaire sent to Central Board of Direct Taxes remained unanswered on Sunday, while Bajaj did not respond to text messages. In the past too, tax officials have refused to give any explanation on how the department failed to spot several glitches in the platform. The problems with the portal have already prompted the tax department to make some concessions. Further, officials have blamed the glitches for the huge slowdown in tax refunds.
Between April and August 16, refunds increased to Rs 49,696 crore as against Rs 96,000 crore between April and August 25 last year. The number of refunds exceeded 25.5 lakhs as on August 25, 2020, which has come down to 22.7 lakhs so far this year. Further, repeated disruptions have led to the demand for postponement of the deadline for filing returns, apart from seeking other exemptions.
Though some experts had suggested that the earlier system be rolled back till the issues in the new portal are resolved, Sitharaman has ruled out the possibility. A prominent CA said, “Many issues have been resolved, but new problems are emerging.”
“The new e-filing portal was expected to replace the existing e-filing portal. It was seen to create a strong technology backbone by enabling
(a) Host of new functionalities for taxpayers, including enhanced look, feel and usage experience. The Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, in a letter to the FM on August 11, said, “We regret to say that even after a lapse of more than two months, the portal is still not functioning and is facing several serious problems.
.