FM sets Sept 15 deadline for Infosys CEO to resolve IT portal glitches

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her meeting with Infosys MD and CEO Salil Parekh has asked the software major to resolve the issues faced by the taxpayers on the Income Tax e-filing portal by September 15.

Sitharaman held a meeting with Parekh here in the afternoon to convey the deep disappointment and concerns of the government and the taxpayers about the continuing glitches in the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department, even after two-and-a-half months since its launch, which was also delayed.

The Ministry of Finance emphasised that there is a need for putting in more resources and efforts on the part of Infosys so that the much-delayed delivery of agreed services is ensured.

Parekh was also sensitised on the difficulties that the taxpayers are facing and the problems that are arising on account of the delays in the functioning of the portal, said a Finance Ministry statement.

Parekh assured that the software major is working expeditiously towards ensuring a glitch-free experience in the income tax e-filing portal.

According to the statement, the minister sought an explanation from Infosys for the repeated issues faced by the taxpayers.

The Infosys CEO explained that he and his team are doing everything to ensure the smooth functioning of the portal.

He added that over 750 team members are working on this project with Pravin Rao, the COO of Infosys, personally overseeing it.

The new income tax e-filing portal developed by Infosys was launched on June 7 in a bid to ease the tax filing process and expedite the refund issue.

However, taxpayers have been facing several problems in using the portal since its inception.

In July, the Finance Ministry asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to constitute a seven-member task force to look into the technical issues facing the new Income Tax e-filing portal developed by Infosys.

In line with the directive, the ICAI constituted a team to analyse the issues.

During the recent Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that Infosys has been paid a total of Rs 164.5 crore under the project.

He had said that the government has launched the new income tax e-filing portal as part of the Integrated E-filing and Centralised Processing Centre 2.0 Project.