Many users reported problems accessing the I-T portal and thought that it was hacked on June 7. But the Income Tax Department said that software services provider Infosys has been directed to investigate a problem with the search option on the e-filing portal and resolving the issue is now the priority.
Officials from the Finance Ministry also stated that there has been no data breach on the portal.
Several times in the past year, the portal’s operation was disrupted, prompting the government to extend the deadline for filing tax returns and related forms for all taxpayers.
The new e-filing portal, www.incometax.gov.in, which went live on June 7, 2021, had a rocky start, with taxpayers and professionals reporting glitches and difficulties in its operation.
The portal was launched to provide taxpayers with convenience and a modern, seamless experience. The contract to develop the portal was awarded to the IT giant in 2019. This is what happened afterwards:
June 2021
The e-filing portal experienced numerous glitches in its operation shortly after its launch on June 7, last year.
The Finance Ministry and Infosys had previously met to discuss these issues and how to improve the portal’s technical infrastructure.
August 2021
Salil Parekh, MD & CEO of Infosys, assured FM Nirmala Sitharaman that the company was working quickly to ensure that taxpayers had a trouble-free experience on the portal. Parekh also stated that this project had over 750 team members working on it.
Sitharaman had expressed “deep disappointment” over the persistence of glitches more than two months after the portal’s launch and had given Infosys until September 15 to resolve the issues.
September 2021
The government’s deadline for Infosys to fix the problems with the income tax portal expired, but taxpayers continued to express their dissatisfaction with the glitches.
Tax experts and taxpayers reported a number of ongoing issues with filing returns, including delayed pre-validation by banks, difficulties registering digital signature certificates, inability to file adjournment in ongoing assessment cases, failure to reissue refund requests, and errors in e-verification in September.
December 2021
The portal was down on December 30 last year, a day before the deadline for filing Income-Tax Returns (ITR), leaving taxpayers, chartered accountants, and tax practitioners in a bind.
It was said that OTP was not being sent on time and the account login was found to have some issues due to which return filing was pending.
June 7, 2022
After many users complained about problems accessing the I-T portal and reported that it had been hacked on June 7, which also happened to be the portal’s first anniversary, the department stated that Infosys was resolving the issue on priority and assured that there were no cybersecurity problems.
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