New Delhi, The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) has intensified its action against offshore online gaming entities. The online money gaming industry includes both domestic and foreign operators. Under the GST law, 'online money gaming' is classified as a supply of 'goods' and is taxed at 28%. Entities working in this sector are required to register under GST.

DGGI is investigating 700 offshore entities

About 700 offshore entities involved in online money gaming/betting are under the DGGI's investigation. It has been observed that these entities are evading GST by not getting registered. So far, 357 websites/ URLs of illegal/ non-compliant offshore online money gaming entities have been blocked by DGGI in coordination with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Drive against legitimate gaming platforms

In a recent drive against certain illegal gaming platforms, DGGI in collaboration with I4C and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) targeted bank accounts being used to collect money from participants. Around 2,000 bank accounts were blocked and Rs 4 crore seized. In another action, 392 bank accounts linked to UPI IDs found on the websites of some of these offshore entities have been debit frozen and a total amount of Rs 122.05 crore in these accounts has been temporarily seized.

166 Mule Accounts Blocked

DGGI also launched another drive against certain Indian nationals who were running online money gaming platforms from outside India. It was revealed that these people were providing online money gaming facilities to Indian customers through several online platforms including Satguru Online Money Gaming Platform, Mahakal Online Money Gaming Platform and Abhi 247 Online Money Gaming Platform. These people were using mule bank accounts (bank accounts used by fraudsters to stash money proceeds from crime) to collect money from Indian customers. DGGI has so far blocked 166 mule accounts linked to these platforms. So far, three such people have been arrested and investigations are on against others.

These acts by foreign entities harm local businesses and spoil the market. These unscrupulous foreign entities circumvent the restrictions by creating new web addresses. The investigation also revealed that these companies operate through ‘mule’ bank accounts to process transactions. There is a possibility of channeling these money into illegal activities, which can also be dangerous from the national security point of view.

Public advised to remain vigilant
It has been observed that many Bollywood celebrities and cricketers as well as influencers on YouTube, Whatsapp and Instagram are found promoting these platforms, and hence the public is advised to remain vigilant and avoid engaging with offshore online money gaming platforms. This may cause monetary loss to people and undermine national security. DGGI says it is committed to combating the threat of illegal offshore gaming entities. With the upcoming IPL season, enforcement action will be more stringent to prevent illegal gaming operations.