MeitY Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Shares His Thoughts on 28% GST Levy on Gambling and Fantasy Apps

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar shared his thoughts about the GST Council’s decision to levy 28% tax on online real-money gambling. In an interview on July 13, the minister dubbed the decision a “well-thought-out preliminary measure.” Here is what Mr. Chandrasekhar has to say about the latest announcement from the Government of India.

MeitY Minister on 28% GST on gambling apps

Mr. Chandrasekhar highlighted that the Council has not reached this decision in haste. It took three years to come to this conclusion after much deliberation among the members. He also mentioned that there are two types of online “games”, one being the “good games” or “permissible games”. The second type of “games” fall into the category of “non-permissible games”. He emphasized that these “games of chance” are factually online gambling and fantasy apps that feature the use of real money for wagering.

Such apps have increased cases of user harm and money laundering. Mr. Chandrasekhar added that the MeitY will “seek consideration separately for games of skills and that for harmful games that involve wagering” after a regulatory framework has been set up.

Indian government acknowledges RMG sector as betting apps

The Indian government has acknowledged RMG sector apps as betting apps. For a long time, there has been a factual misrepresentation of online gambling apps and fantasy sports in India. These gambling apps have tried their best to mislead the public by calling themselves “online games” in India for a while now.

“Moral angle is certainly there when we are taxing online gaming at 28%. Lot of ministers at Goods and Services Tax Council were of the view that betting on online gaming is a social evil, and should be discouraged”, Federal Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra told Reuters in an interview.