New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to itself all the cases pending before various High Courts challenging the levy of 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online gaming companies.
A bench of chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra transferred all the cases pending before different High courts while allowing the Central government’s plea seeking the transfer of all the 27 petitions pending in nine High Courts across the country.
Several online gaming companies including Gameskraft, Dream 11, Games 24x7, and Head Digital Works have also approached the court challenging the imposition of 28 percent GST.
Earlier, the apex court had stayed the Karnataka High Court verdict quashing the GST intimation notice to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore issued to online gaming firm Gameskraft.
On January 8, the top court had issued notice to the Central government on pleas by the E-gaming Federation and others against the levy of 28 per cent GST.
The GST council had, in one of its meetings in July 2023, recommended that online gaming along with casinos and horse racing should be taxed at a uniform rate. It had decided against having any distinction between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
