As many as 45 video game companies in India on July 26, 2023, wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office and to the Ministries of Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology, seeking to put distance between themselves and the real-money gaming industry, amid the ‘widespread confusion’ caused by the latter being referred to as ‘online gaming’.
The real-money gaming industry, which consists of fantasy sports, poker, rummy and other such apps where users can deposit money and compete with other users, has been hit with a 28% GST on all deposits, a move that the industry has criticised. Both the government and the real-money gaming industry use the phrase ‘online gaming’.
The video-gaming firms, such as Outlier Games, SuperGaming and Firebolt Entertainment, are now calling for the government to put an end to this confusion. “‘Online Games’ is too broad [...] a term and carries a different meaning in Indian jurisprudence compared to the global understanding, leading to confusion among gamers, international investors, game publishers, and media during the GST row,” the firms said in their letter to the PMO, which has been viewed by The Hindu.
