GST Network security nod ‘in final stages’

New Delhi: A day before the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), described as the biggest financial reform in the country’s history, home ministry sources said the security clearance for the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) was in the “final stages and likely to be granted shortly”. The Centre has roped in the home ministry, the Intelligence Bureau and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) to conduct a detailed security audit of the GSTN before clearing it.

However, the security clearance to the GSTN will in no way impact or delay the implementation of GST as finance minister Arun Jaitley had said a few days ago that this was merely a “procedural matter”. The GST Network would act as the main information technology (IT) component of the new indirect tax regime which is going to be introduced from July 1. “The GSTN is already functional and the security clearance was a procedural matter. These are all procedural matters and they go on, but that doesn’t defer the GST rollout,” the finance minister had said on an earlier occasion.

Since the GSTN is a non-government private company, the home ministry and its intelligence agencies are running a detailed check on all stakeholders, and the IT system to ensure that there was no threat to the national security and the system was completely foolproof. The finance ministry is also examining the economic security aspect of the IT system.

While Centre has a 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN, all States including Puducherry and Delhi along with the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers put together have another 24.5 per cent. The remaining 51 per cent equity is distributed among non-Governmental financial institutions including LIC Housing Finance Ltd, ICICI Bank, NSE Strategic Investment Co, HDFC and HDFC Bank.

It is mandatory for the Home Ministry and intelligence agencies to give security clearance to all FDI proposals or new companies in which the Government and private entities have a joint stake.

 `` The process of granting security sanction is in the final stages and should be coming any time soon. Most of the work on checking background of office bearers and other stakeholders along with some technical aspect related to the IT system has been completed. But this will not delay the implementation of  GST and if some changes or additional safety measures are required to be made in the IT system these can be done over the next few days of the rollout also,’’ a senior intelligence official said.