The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) is investigating Mahadev Online Book and its promoters, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, for suspected violation of GST rules and non-payment of tax. The DGGI suspects non-payment of GST dues of around Rs30,000 crore, including interest and penalty accruing since 2018- 19, when the application was floated, a senior official said.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the promoters were making Rs450 crore every month through the operations of the applications. DGGI sources said Mahadev Book and its subsidiaries, such as Fairplay, Anna Reddy, Laser Book, Gold365, Lotus 365, and Lion King, operated their applications illegally without proper registration, and earned significant profits from their illicit betting empire.
Central agencies have also obtained information on several Bitcoin, Ethercoin, and digital currency wallets, all associated with Mahadev promoters and currently under investigation. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has blocked the Mahadev app and 22 other subsidiary illegal betting apps and websites in India.
Enforcement Directorate and police in multiple cities, including Mumbai, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Hyderabad, are currently investigating allegations of money laundering, illegal betting, and match-fixing against Mahadev. In 2022, when the application came under the close scrutiny of the ED, the promoters began launching other applications.
Since their inception, these applications have been operating illegally without any GST registration, causing significant revenue losses to the exchequer. For instance, in the case of the Mahadev application, which claimed to be registered in the Netherlands and operated out of Dubai, despite being banned post-amendment, it still remains obligated to settle GST dues, added the official.
