Traders Body Claim Mental Torture Due To GST Glitches; May Sue Infosys For The Troubles

In a twist of events, a powerful traders lobby has threatened to sue Infosys and other IT companies involved in the creation and execution of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in India.

They are facing mental torture and agony due to GST Glitches and the ongoing technical issues, and it seems that their patience is running out.

But, who exactly is responsible here? Govt. of India which implemented GST pan-India with a hope of ushering in progress and development, or the IT Services providers who are writing and updating the codes, based on the instructions by Govt. babus?

Of course, there is no clear cut answer here, but the small time trader and businessmen are likely the victim here, as their business is suffering.

Infosys Can Be Sued For GST Glitches!

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT,) which is a powerful lobby of traders and SMEs from all across the country, has directly blamed Infosys for all the GST glitches happening, ever since it was implemented across India.

Earlier, CAIT had lobbied hard for stopping commerce companies from spreading their wings, and were partly successful when some states like Bihar and Gujarat started implementing special ‘commerce tax’ for online shopping.

However, this time, the issue is much more serious, and the allegations even more serious.

CAIT has complained that the ongoing GST issues, which are occurring almost on a daily basis now, is torturing them mentally.

In a statement, the trader’s body said,

“if no immediate action is taken against Infosys, it will have no other alternative left but to take shelter of the Court of Law to intervene in the matter and while identifying the culprits award them suitable punishment for non performance and wastage of public money. No one will be allowed to run away with public money,”

They have expressed surprise, that why no action has been taken against Infosys, even after Govt. spent Rs 1400 crore for creating the GST software.

In fact, CAIT has demanded a CBI enquiry into this whole debacle.

GST Glitches: Never Ending Saga?

Few days back, we had reported how the blame game has started regarding GST implementation and the glitches, as Govt. officials are directly blaming Infosys for the mess.

On the other hand, Infosys has claimed that they are working hard, based on the ever-changing requirements for the GST software.

In a statement, Infosys had 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,”

During their last meeting in Guwahati, the GST Council decided to abruptly remove more than 100 items from the dreaded 28% GST slab, and this was generally perceived as a good news.

However, in the same meeting, the Council decided to postpone GSTR1 filing to December 31st, and indefinitely postpone GSTR2 and GSTR3.

As per notification published by PTI, the council said,

“The time period for filing GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for the months of July, 2017 to March 2018 would be worked out by a Committee of Officers. However, filing of GSTR-1 will continue for the entire period without requiring filing of GSTR-2 & GSTR-3 for the previous month / period.”

Such uncertainties are breaking the morale of small traders, who are yet to figure out the complex tax structure prescribed under GST, and there seems no way out.

Even BJP Ministers have claimed that they are yet to understand GST, and in light of this, it seems that the small traders have no other option here.

Do you think that traders and SMEs should sue Infosys for the GST glitches? Or Govt. should come out, and admit the mistake?

Do let us know by commenting right here!