Respond to online gaming cos’ plea against 28% GST, Supreme Court tells Centre

New Delhi, January 8

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday asked the Centre and the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence to respond in two weeks to a petition filed by the E-gaming Federation against levying 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all forms of online real-money gaming.

A Bench, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, issued the notice after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Harish Salve for the federation and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) N Venkataraman, representing the government.

Salve and the ASG said several high courts were seized of similar petitions and were passing orders filed by Dream 11, Games 24×7, and Head Digital Works. The GST Council had, in one of its meetings in July last year, recommended that online gaming along with casinos and horse racing be taxed at a uniform rate. The GST council had decided that there should not be any distinction between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.