The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has received advice from the Goods and Service Tax (GST) authorities to block 60 offshore online gaming platforms. This action came after the companies failed to follow India’s registration law. A source close to the matter revealed that the details of those 60 platforms were shared with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology by late March.
The Government of India previously blocked 60 online gaming platforms, which were not following the registration law. Initially, these 60 platforms were on that list, but they were later removed as the investigation is currently underway. The investigations are being conducted by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, overseen by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The decision to block these platforms came from the 51st Goods and Service Tax Council. The council mandates offshore gaming platforms to register and pay a GST of 28% on their earnings.
The task isn’t easy for the Government of India as these platforms tend to change their website URLs, giving a tough challenge to the government. A source close to NDTV Profit said that the authorities are trying their best to tackle these issues.
Since the imposition of 28% GST in 2023, the online gaming industry has become a big source of revenue for the government. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra had said in an interview that the online gaming industry contributed around Rs. 1,600 crore to the government revenue in the last fiscal year. As per reports after the implication of 28% GST, the current fiscal year revenue to reach Rs. 13,000 – 14,000 crore.
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