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Journalism of Courage
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) could urge the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to reconsider its d ecision of levying a 28 per cent tax on the full face value of the total pool in online gaming platforms after its regulatory framework for the sector is in place, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday.
“The process of creating a regulatory framework for online gaming only started in January 2023. We are in the early stages of creating a predictable, sustainable, and permissible online gaming framework…. We will go back to the GST Council and maybe request their consideration on the facts of the new regulatory framework,” Chandrasekhar said during an event at CNN News18 Townhall. In April, MeitY had notified rules for online gaming intermediaries, allowing for the creation of self regulatory bodies that will decide what is a permissible online game. The self regulatory bodies are yet to be formed.
Last week, the GST Council decided to levy a uniform 28 per cent tax on full face value for online gaming, casinos, and horse-racing, irking the online gaming industry. Start-ups have said the decision can increase net taxes for the firms by as much as 1000 per cent. They have also said that the decision could force users to join illegal betting platforms and discourage investors from funding Indian gaming companies.
