Had GSTN been subjected to audit by third party so far?

Had GSTN been subjected to audit by third party so far? Answer is yes but still why the hell GSTN is unable to cope up with the amendments and glitches?

As reported in Business Standard dt. 27/06/2018 (https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/gstn-software-developed-by-infosys-to-be-audited-by-third-party-official-118062700200_1.html),

GST Network has decided to go in for third-party audit of its software developed by Infosys to ensure that all changes in law are adequately captured and its performance is not lagging on any count, a senior official said.

GST Network Chief Executive Prakash Kumar said the third-party audit is a standard practice which is followed by banking and financial institutions. “Whenever the law is changed or any circular is issued, we have to change the software. We need to have a third party to audit whatever software changes have been made by Infosys. So this is a third-party expert audit,” Kumar told PTI in an interview.

Last year, the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate, which is under the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, had audited GSTN to check the security of the system.

The audit also encompassed other aspects like mechanism to enhance the resilience of the critical and sensitive GST IT network.

“Entire product which has been developed by Infosys it has been audited once by STQC. STQC will not audit every time. But, for all the changes that have been made I need a third-party to certify.

“This will be a continuous audit of what changes have been made, as per ISO requirement. Not only functional audit but also performance audit. These would be technological auditors,” Kumar said.

After reading the excerpts from the above news, one may have doubt whether the said audit was actually done in the lines in which it is required or not? Now it is their responsibility to showcase the reasons for frequent failures of GST portal despite of audit. We all may have doubts now after having gone through the different hardships at end users’ levels whether the GSTN or the audit agency has broad view of GST provisions at all or not; or whether having the capacity to cope up with the momentum at which frequent changes are being made in the Law. Leave alone the amendments for the reasons we cannot erase the past data and replace with new data in our brains more often unlike in the hard disk of a computer.

One example is enough to understand by the end-users about the capability of understanding of a simple provision in the Law where no intellectuality is required and no amendments also took place.  Example, Section 170 of CGST Act speaks about rounding-off tax, interest etc., But had this simple provision been incorporated in GST portal? Answer is a big NO, everyone knows this.  Why the GSTN software making our lives so miserable by not following the provisions?  Even one paise is not matching, we are gone.  You have to pay that one paisa to the Government’s kitty and then only we will be allowed to file the returns. Why the hell one should waste his/her precious hours to make one paise payment? What benefit and advantage the Government is achieving from this? I, on behalf of entire experts, consultants, industry, CAs etc., demand the GSTN to answer my question why they are unable to incorporate this simple provision in GST software when the provision has been in force since the dawn of GST in India?

Like this there may be many similar shortcomings at GSTN level? Will they be held responsible for non-compliance like anyone else?  Please lend your ear Sir like how Government is responding to the demands of industry.