An RSS-linked journal has blasted tech giant Infosys for the tax portal glitches reported recently, speculating whether "anti-national forces were at play". The cover story in the Panchajanya magazine, titled Saakh Aur Aaghat (‘Reputation and Injury'), stated that the incident has resulted in growing mistrust against the tax system, and wondered if "anti-national forces were at play to sabotage India's economic system". The article also goes on to allege that Infosys has been reported to be associated with left-wing and similar outlets aligned against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to The Hindu, Panchajanya editor Hitesh Shankar said that "the implications for the people have been grave, it is an issue that directly hits crores of taxpayers, both direct and indirect”.
Infosys was in 2019 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. However, massive glitches were reported in the portal, with user complaints flowing in.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh was summoned to explain the continuing mess of the IT portal—the site itself disappeared for some time after what Infosys called 'an emergency maintenance'. Parekh was accompanied by the head of Infy's India Business division which is in-charge of the portal, C.N.Raghupati.
