Delhi finance minister Atishi, a member of the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman-led GST Council, on Wednesday assured BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover she will urge the body to reconsider its decision to levy GST on online gaming.
“Thanks for flagging the problems with this decision @Ashneer_Grover. Today the @GST_Council will be meeting again, and I will be asking them to reconsider the decision to impose 28% GST on Online Gaming,” tweeted Atishi ahead of Wednesday’s 51st meet of the GST Council.
Her party’s govt in Delhi, the AAP leader added, is ‘clear that promoting start ups is the only way our economy will grow!’
Atishi was responding to a July 11 tweet from Grover, who has repeatedly criticised the GST Council’s decision to impose tax on online gaming. Earlier that day, the body in its 50th meet, took various decisions, including bringing online gaming, horse racing and casinos under the 28% tax slab, the highest tax slab under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The gaming industry too, has opposed the move, saying it will lead to ‘significant challenges’ to the industry.
How 28% GST affects online gaming?
According to Shivani Jha, Tech Policy Lawyer and Director, EPWA (E-Gamers and Players Welfare Association), the implementation will mean that ₹28 are charged per ₹100 spent on a game.
“This will not only discourage players from playing, the professionals for whom its a livelihood will be burdened by taxation. It may also force them to play on offshore platforms, and the whole vision of creating a digital progressing gaming ecosystem seems blurry at this point,” Jha told HT’s sister publication LiveMint.
