FM Nirmala Sitharaman asks Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to fix technical glitches in the new Income Tax Portal. She set a deadline of September 15 to fix all concerns.
This is the second instance the corporate has met with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the IT site concerns.
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In a tweet on Sunday, the Income Tax Department stated “Parekh had been resurrected by the minister to clarify the significant problems”.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday brought up concerns over the ongoing technical glitches in the country’s new electronic tax filing gateway with the chief executive of Infosys Ltd, who have developed the website, and provided him time, till September 15 to rectify all troubles.
According to government sources, Sitharaman talked with Salil Parekh, CEO of Infosys, at her workplace in Delhi and attempted to discover why the platform’s issues had not been resolved for two and a half months just after introduction. Parekh and his squad are supposed to have presented a blueprint for taking corrective action.
Infosys was Assigned the Task to Design New IT Platform
In 2019, Infosys was assigned the task to design the new IT platform. The project’s target was to build the next-generation income tax filing platform, which would minimize the waiting time for returns from 63 days to one day and speed up rebates.
The new income tax e platform ‘www.incometax.gov.in’, on the other hand, encountered technical glitches from the beginning, with users claiming that various services were either inactive or functioning slowly.
Salil Parekh: We are Doing All Possible to Assure the Platform’s Efficient Operation
Parekh mentioned that he and his staff are doing all possible to assure the platform’s efficient operation. He further added that almost 750 staff members are functioning on this venture, which is closely overseen by Pravin Rao, COO of Infosys. According to the ministry, Parekh also reassured that Infosys is striving promptly to enable that taxpayers have a trouble-free session on the platform.
The platform, which officially launches on June 7, was unattainable until late evening on August 21 and 22. It reappeared following what the IT major termed “emergency maintenance.”
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Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani has been in Communication with Sitharaman
The platform, on the other hand, had a turbulent launch due to technical issues such as profile updates and password changes. Taking cognizance of the complaints posted on social media by taxpayers, tax professionals, and other stakeholders, the Finance Minister had already addressed the matters to Infosys, urging them to resolve these complaints. Moreover, Nandan Nilekani, Infosys’ non-executive chairperson, has been in communication with Sitharaman about the matter.
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Opposition Voiced Concerns About New IT Platform
Shashi Tharoor, a Congress politician, had earlier criticized the Centre over the identified shortcomings, claiming that “even after investing Rs 4200 crore, the government had ‘missed’ to achieve the purpose and ‘made a mess’ instead.”
Shahi Tharoor remarked on Twitter that, Chartered Accountants from the All India Professionals Congress (AIPC) notified him that the transition to the Income Tax Platform was “disastrous,” with errors such as “longer-than-usual log-in durations.”
