Fix IT Portal Glitches by 15 Sept: Sitharaman Gives Infosys CEO a Deadline

Managing Director and CEO of Infosys, Salil Parekh.

(Photo: IANS)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, 23 August, reproached Infosys CEO Salil Parekh over continued glitches in the new Income Tax portal set up by the company, as per media reports. Sitharaman also reportedly gave him a deadline – 15 September – to resolve all issues.

Salil Parekh, Managing Director and CEO of Infosys, reached the Finance Ministry to meet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, after he was summoned to explain why the glitches in the new income tax e-filing portal have not been fixed even after two and half months since its launch, news agency ANI reported.

What Happened at the Meeting?

The Finance Ministry, in a statement, said that Sitharaman conducted the meeting to "convey deep disappointment and concerns of the government and taxpayers about continuing glitches in the e-filing portal of Income Tax Department even after two and a half months since its launch".

According to ANI, the ministry also shared that the minister has demanded that the issues be resolved by 15 September.

The Ministry, further, reportedly added:

"During the meeting, Infosys MD Salil Parekh explained that he and his team are doing everything to ensure smooth functioning of the portal. He said over 750 team members are working on this project and Infosys COO Pravin Rao is personally overseeing this project."

Previously...

The Finance Minister had earlier expressed concern over issues in the portal in June this year. Parekh and senior executive Praveen Rao had been asked to make the portal more user-friendly.

"Ministry of Finance has summoned Salil Parekh, MD&CEO @Infosys on 23/08/2021 to explain to hon'ble FM as to why even after 2.5 months since launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved. In fact, since 21/08/2021 the portal itself is not available (sic)," a tweet from the official Income Tax India handle read.

More Details

The portal, which was designed by Infosys, was launched on 7 June earlier this year. Issues have continuously been flagged since then.

The issues included profile updation and changing passwords.

Meanwhile, Nandan Nilekani, the non-executive chairperson of Infosys, has also been in touch with Sitharaman.

On 16 August, the finance minister had said that glitches on the new Income Tax portal were expected to be fixed entirely in the next two to three days. “I have been reminding Infosys constantly… and Nandan Nilekani has been messaging me with assurances that they will sort it out,” the minister had said.

(With inputs from ANI)