Skip to main content

GSTN portal to be shut on July 1 for disaster recovery drill

By
GSTN portal to be shut on July 1 for disaster recovery drill
In a mail to taxpayers, the authorities have said it is planning a disaster recovery drill and so services will not be available for 12 hours, between 9am and 9pm, on July 1
On a day when the goods and services tax regime would mark the first anniversary of its roll-out, the tax-filing portal — GST Network (GSTN) — will stay paralysed. On Sunday, the GSTN would conduct a 'disaster recovery drill' to create a backup system in Bangalore in order to cope with disasters such as a terror attack, power grid failure or an earthquake. "We are creating a backup so that the system remains safe, functioning, and available in case of any disruption or disaster. The objective is that normal course of business should not get disrupted," Prakash Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, GSTN told Business Standard.
In a mail to taxpayers, the authorities have said it is planning a disaster recovery drill and so services will not be available for 12 hours, between 9am and 9pm, on July 1. It requested the taxpayers to plan GST-related activities on the portal accordingly. GSTN has two service providers. The main data centre is in Delhi and supported by Tata Communications. The disaster backup is being created in Bangalore, supported by Airtel.
With this in place, the system will automatically switch from Delhi to Bangalore in case of a disaster. "We are creating an automated system, where the Bangalore unit will take over in case the Delhi system stops," said Kumar. The idea is that return filing should not stop under any circumstances, he added. The GSTN portal will become secure and resilient to unforeseen or emergency situations through this automation.
"For instance, if there is a terror attack and that terrorists take control over the GSTN system in Delhi, the business should not stop," said Kumar. Again, if there is a complete grid failure for 48 hours or an earthquake, it will be business as usual for GSTN. As far as data security is concerned, GSTN has maintained that the network is safe from global malware attacks as it has taken all necessary precautions. Multiple security layers have been put in place at the data centre, where the entire information is stored.
Incorporated as a private body, GSTN is being turned into a government-owned body at a time when the data confidentiality concerns raised globally. GSTN has developed the front-end infrastructure with the help of Infosys. It provides a common platform for registration, filing of returns and e-payments. It has also integrated the common GST portal with the tax administration systems of the Centre and the states. The number of active taxpayer base registered with GSTN has jumped to over 11.2 million from 6.3 million initially. 4.8 million are new taxpayers.
The Business Standard, 30th June 2018, New Delhi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Data storage norm splits digital payments industry

By
Data storage norm splits digital payments industry  India’s nascent digital payment industry could be thrown into disarray due to the demand by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that all user data be stored within the country, fears an industry grouping, which has termed the decision as “heavy-handed”, even as others, including the country’s largest digital payment provider Paytm, have hailed the move.  In a bid to narrow the growing schism, the industry is planning to send a formal representation to the regulator highlighting its concerns, a top official told ET.  “We are trying to build a consensus on the issue," said the person adding that the representation to the central bank will be ready this week.  RBI on April 6, mandated all payment companies—global and local—to set up data storage facilities within India by October. The stringent six-month deadline has attracted the ire of several sections of the industry that fear it will lead to a disruption of wel...
18 comments
Read more

Sebi to finalise options in commodities today

By
The Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) will meet on Friday with senior officials of the latter, to give a final shape to the rules on options trading in commodity futures, beside revising the warehousing norms to ensure good delivery on settlement. The decision taken, after discussing with the advisory committee, will be placed before the regulator’s board, to finalise the regulations. According to knowledgeable sources, three commodities in each segment, agricultural and non- agricultural, have been proposed for introducing options. It appears commodities from the soya and guar segments are preferred in the former. From the non- agri segment, it is likely that gold, silver and crude oil will be finalised. All these These have better liquidity and both the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and the Multi Commodity Exchange, respectively, will be able to introduce the options. In the equity segments, options ar...
17 comments
Read more

E tailers global warehouses may come under tax net

By
E tailers  global warehouses may come under tax net Warehouses of e-commerce companies based in countries such as Australia, Japan, Italy,  Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia may not be exempted from paying the income tax in India  once the multilateral instrument (MLI) to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)  comes into force. BEPS refers to the reporting framework mooted by the Organisation for Economic  Co-operation and Development (OECD) and signed by over 100 countries, including India, to  prevent exploiting gaps and mismatches in tax rules to shift profits by multinational  companies (MNCs) artificially to low-tax regimes. The representatives of 68 countries on June 7 this year signed an agreement (MLI) in Paris  to amend their tax treaties to bring them in alignment with measures to prevent BEPS.  However, there is still time for synchronising tax treaties with the multilateral  instrument. India has submitte...
17 comments
Read more