India is taking its internet and cyber environment to a questionable level after imposing some controversial laws and bills including handing over users’ VPNs to the government and banning apps from the country’s App Markets multiple times. The latest announcement possesses the biggest blow on gamers in India, in which the country’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman stated about finalizing an increase of GST in a few specific fields, including online gaming.
The new change in the taxation will affect the platforms and subscribers
Coming to the hot topic that every Indian Gamer would want to know about, Nirmala Sitharaman during the press conference after the 47th GST Council meeting, announced the proposal of a rise in the GST rate of a few fields to be finalized in the 48th GST Council meeting, which is due to be held in the first week of August at Madurai.
The fields that expect to see a rise in GST rates are casinos, race courses, bets, and online gaming. The previous rate of 18%, which was imposed on online gaming, is expected to rise to 28%. On average, the globally accepted taxation rate sits between 8 to 15%. In comparison to that, this rate is high and expected to push an unexpected burden on the participants, gamers.
The Indian community is against the imposition of GST on online gaming
India stands in a remarkable position amongst the South Asian countries when it comes to the gaming industry and is host to a really large and significant player base with games like Call of Duty Mobile, Battlegrounds Mobile India, Mobile Legends, and others getting traffic from millions of gamers from India. However, the last few decisions of the government have seriously made gamers upset.
“The decision to increase the GST rate would be catastrophic for the online gaming community.” Such voices are coming from different communities including the All India Gaming Federation, E- Gaming federation, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, and many other communities.
This is a decision that will affect the ability to buy and subscribe to different game services of all the gamers in the country and will have a negative impact. Many communities have requested the GST rate not be changed. Now all they can do is wait for the council’s meeting and hope for good news.
What are your thoughts about the decision to raise GST on online gaming in India? Let us know in the comments below!
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