Govt Spent Rs. 1379.70 Crores for GST Portal Development and Maintenance, reveals RTI

In a recent reply to a Right to Information application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has disclosed that the Government of India has spent a total sum of Rs. 1,379,70,96,763/- (Rupees One Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy-Nine Crore Seventy Lakh Rupees and Ninety Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Three Rupees Only). The RTI Application contained the following questions: – Details of the Amount spent on developing the GST Portal (including infrastructure and software) till launch? How much is the annual/recurrent maintenance expenditure on the Portal? Kindly provide the details of other Operating expenses such as salary, rent, office expenses, internal IT facilities for the Financial Year 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. What is the total amount spent on the GST Portal for Fraud Analytics Tools, security audit and other security functions(as outsourced based on tender) since the Portal was launched? In response to RTI query as raised by the applicant at Serial No. 1, it was replied that the “total value of the contract is INR 1,379,70,96,763/- which also includes Application Development and Operation & maintenance for 05 years of GSTN Portal. However, in reply to the remaining questions, it was replied that, “The information sought by the RTI Applicant at S.no-2 to 4 cannot be provided by GSTN as the information sought comes under Section 8(1)(d) of RTI Act, 2005. It was further stated that the information relates to the GST portal which contains commercially sensitive information and information which is in the nature of confidential information, trade secrets and intellectual property, the disclosure of which can be misused. The much celebrated new indirect tax regime was rolled out in the year 2017 with a promise to make the tax compliance hussle-free and faster with the use of technology. However, the 5 year old “Good and Simple Tax” turned out to be a nightmare to the taxpayers and the tax practitioners from the very first day of its launch due to the poor development and implementation of the GST portal. There were a number of occasions where the Government had to extend the GSTR deadlines and waive off late fees and even change the return filing process and norms due to the poor performance and the technical glitches on the portal. In spite of such a huge expense on development, application development, operation and maintenance, the GST Portal has a long way to becoming the one stop-solution for all Goods and Services Tax related compliances. The technical glitches often caused headaches to the stakeholder practitioner and taxpayers. In the last 5 years, there have been a number of occasions where the High Courts of different States had to interfere and issue necessary directions to the Government to address the grievances of the taxpayers. The poor performance of the GST portal in its first year had affected the process of issue to transitional credit where the taxpayers were not allowed to claim the credit after the expiry of one year. Resultantly, thousands of litigations were filed before various High Courts where the technical glitches on the portal were discussed. Finally, the Apex Court came to the rescue of the taxpayers and directed the Government to re-open the portal for those who could not file TRAN-1 and 2 for the reason which was beyond the control of the taxpayers. Here is a list of Technical Glitches and Portal Bugs that have been reported by taxscan.in over the period of time since the portal was launched that was addressed at various High Courts of the country in the absence of the GST Appellate Tribunal and at the GSTN :– Technical glitches in GST Portal: Madras HC directs to file Fresh Application for release of Blocked Funds Inability to file Appeal due to Glitches on GST Portal: Offline Appeal shall be Permitted If No Other Method ‘Notified’ by Commissioner, rules Allahabad HC Issues in filing of GSTR-3B due Non-filing of TRAN: GST Portal Issues Advisory Facing Glitches while Downloading GSTR-9: “Tech Team is Working to Resolve Issue,” says GST Portal GST Portal not allowing to Open GSTR-3B for Taxpayers not filed GSTR-1 Breaking: GSTR-3B Due Date Extended due to Technical Glitches in GST Portal Non-Release of Sanctioned Refund in ECL due to Technical Glitches in GST Portal: Andhra Pradesh HC directs to Pay Interest after Re-Consideration GST Portal: GSTN advises Taxpayers not to avail ITC on Same Invoice appearing twice in GSTR-2B GSTN provides Interim Solution for Incomplete GSTR-2B in Some Cases in GST Portal GST is not Taxpayer-Friendly: Bombay HC directs Govt to Fix Technical Glitches in GSTN Soon This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but just a sneak peek into the extent of trouble faced by the taxpayers and tax professionals. However, the recent promises of the Finance Minister and actions of the GSTN give hope towards a less messy, more functional GST Portal, ensuring ease of compliance to the taxpayers under the “One Nation, One Tax” regime and finally making the portal worthy of the Thousands of Crores of taxpayers’ money spent on the development and maintenance of the same. Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates

Govt Spent Rs. 1379.70 Crores for GST Portal Development and Maintenance, reveals RTI

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