Rajeev Chandrasekhar says will request GST Council to reconsider 28% tax on online gaming

“We are only in the nascent stages of creating a sustainable, permissible online gaming framework. So we will do that and go back to the GST Council and maybe request their consideration on the new regulatory framework,” he said.  

The GST Council on July 11 said that the government will impose a goods and service tax of 28% on the turnover of online gaming companies, horse racing and casinos.  

Chandrasekhar added that the GST Council, which was a federal body had been working on the issue for the past three years while the regulatory framework for online gaming only began in January 2023. 

“The GST Council is not the Government of India. The council is represented by all state governments. It is a federal organization. State governments and finance ministers have come together and created a GST framework. That is a consequence of three years of their work. While we may quibble with the findings, we have to recognize the process of creating a framework for online gaming, started in January 2023,” he said.  

Chandrasekhar argued that while the regulatory framework discussions began early this year, it would be prudent to go slow on creating a regulation on the issue even as the GST Council’s decision had aggrieved the online gaming industry.  

“It is better to slowly progress and evolve these frameworks that are sustainable than doing things in a hurry just because you’re reacting to a soundbyte or to an angry industry, or an angry start-up, and then create downstream mistakes,” he said.  

“We believe that, and Prime Minister’s very clear: In the digital space, do everything from the perspective of the next decade. So the laws, rules, all go through detailed, deep consultation with the stakeholders and then we take people on board. The online gaming rules went through 3.5 months of consultation and what the government started with and what we ended with were totally different. So, its better to do it right than to do it fast,” he added.

Updated: 18 Jul 2023, 12:43 AM IST