Team G2G

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr. DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra on 6 th September heard the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI’s) Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the quashing of the Rs. 21,000 crores (roughly US$2.5 billion) show cause notice issued to online rummy platform Gameskraft. It may be...

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in its 51st meeting held by video-conferencing on 2nd August, 2023 reiterated the decision of the earlier 50th GST Council meeting held on 11th July to tax online gaming, casinos and horse racing at 28% on face value of bets. The council provided further clarity on the modalities of implementation of the decision and said the initial deposits made to...

The Goods & Services Tax (GST) Council, the country’s apex constitutional body on indirect taxes in its 50th meeting held on 11th July, 2023 decided to unanimously levy a 28% tax rate on online gaming, horse racing and casinos, without making a differentiation between games of skill and chance. According to a press release issued by the Council after the meeting, the tax will be levied on the...

A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy heard writ petitions filed by industry body All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) as well as online gaming companies Gameskraft Technologies, Head Digital Works and Play Games24x7 challenging the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and...

The Tamil Nadu government by a notification in the official gazette appointed 21st April, 2023 as the date on which the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022 (“the Act”) would come into force. The state government on the same date also notified the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority and Regulation of Online Games Rules, 2023 which provides for the...

The Registrar of the Supreme Court by an order dated 2nd March, 2023 granted four online rummy companies four weeks’ time to file a counter affidavit in the transfer petition filed by the Telangana government seeking that writ petitions filed by the online rummy companies in the state High Court be directly heard by the apex court, since appeals from Karnataka and Madras High Courts on the same...

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on 8th March 2023 returned the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, 2022 (“the Bill”) to the legislative assembly for reconsideration in exercise of his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution. Governor Ravi reportedly raised question marks over the state’s legislative competence to enact a law on online gaming...

A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Justices Gautam S. Patel and SG Dige by an order dated 18th January, 2023 directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider Play Games 24×7 Private Limited’s compounding application for issuing equity shares to foreign investors within a period of four weeks of them making a fresh application. The Bombay High Court passed the order...