Infosys deploys more people in states to ease GSTN load

New Delhi: Facing criticism over glitches in the software it developed for the GST Network, Infosys Ltd has deployed more IT experts and engineers in states to steady the Goods and Services Tax return filing portal, a government official said today.

Infosys, which had won the Rs 1,380 crore deal in 2015 for developing and running GST’s back-end, has stepped up efforts to remove outages the system faced during peak tax and return filing period, he said. “Infosys has started deploying more engineers and IT experts for the GSTN project. They are being sent to major states to address issues and help states better understand the system,” the official said.

Businesses and traders have complained of problems faced in the filing of return on the GST-Network portal on the last days, forcing the government to extend deadlines. While it had extended the date for maiden GSTR-3B return filing in August, the due date for final returns GSTR-1, 2 and 3 has also been extended.

Glitches in invoice matching while filing GSTR-2 was flagged at the meeting of Group Of Ministers (GoM) on October 28 following which it directed Infosys to deploy more software engineers in every state to assist state tax officers with the new IT system. The official said Infosys has already deployed more than 100 IT people in their team for GSTN functioning.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and head of GoM on GSTN Sushil Modi had last week said that Infosys was earlier asked to deploy engineers in major states by October 30. “They have done so in 9 states and sought time till November end to deploy in other states,” Modi had said. Infosys won a 5-year government contract worth Rs 1,380 crore in 2015 to develop the IT system for the biggest indirect tax reform GST.

While some believe that the onus was on Infosys to ensure a glitch-free system, others say that the last moment finalisation of rules relating to returns took a toll on the system’s performance. The GST Council, comprising Centre and states, had in June finalised rules for return filing and transition credit claims. GST was rolled out from July 1. GST Network has since then been working very closely with Infosys to ensure timely availability of software and utilities on the portal.

Replying to questions emailed by PTI, Infosys said: “Given the complex nature of the project and rapid change management, there have been several stakeholder concerns that have also been raised. “Some of our finest engineers are supporting the GSTN team as they work towards resolving these and serving all stakeholders”.

The GoM on GSTN chaired by Modi was set up in September to streamline the issues faced by businesses while transacting on the portal and also to make it more user-friendly. After the third meeting of the GoM on October 28, he had said: “27 functionalities had to be launched or issues had to be resolved by Infosys, out of which 18 of them have been operationalised. This is about 66.7 percent success. Infosys is doing their best…”