Infosys regrets glitches in the new e-filing portal, commits to resolve all issues

Infosys on Saturday said it is deeply concerned with the inconvenience caused by the technical glitches in the new income tax e-filing portal, and it is working to resolve all the issues at the earliest.

The new portal was launched on June 7, with the I-T department, as well as the government, saying it was aimed at making compliance more taxpayer-friendly. However, users complained of technical issues while using the site from the very first day. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman herself had asked Infosys and its Chairman Nandan Nilekani to fix the technical glitches.

On June 9, Infosys had said it expects the system to stabilise in the course of this week. Finance ministry officials will meet representatives of Infosys on June 22 to discuss issues and glitches on the portal as users continue to face inconvenience.

"Infosys is working to resolve the concerns in the new income tax e-filing portal. For the last week, several of the technology glitches, which impacted the performance and stability, have been addressed. And as a result, we have observed lakhs of unique daily users in the portal," Infosys Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao said at the 40th annual general meeting of the company.

Responding to a query from a shareholder, Rao said close to one lakh income tax returns have been filed so far.

He noted that as new functions are introduced on the "complex" platform, concerns related to filing forms, e-proceedings and other instances were observed.

"Our project teams are working to resolve this to ensure a seamless experience for the users...We are deeply concerned with the initial inconvenience this new e-filing portal has caused to the users and are committed to resolving all issues at the earliest," he said.

Rao added that the company looked forward to working closely with all stakeholders over the next few weeks to "ensure that all inputs and feedbacks are being reviewed and addressed towards the objective of delivering enhanced functionality and seamless end-user experience".

In 2019, Infosys was awarded a contract to develop the next-generation income tax filing system to reduce processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and expedite refunds.