Tiger Global, Peak XV, Steadview Capital, others write to PM Modi Complaining about 28% GST on Real- Money Gaming

New Delhi, 21st July 2023: A group of 30 notable domestic and foreign startup investors, including Tiger Global, Peak XV, and Steadview Capital, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express their great worry about the GST Council’s recent decision to charge a 28% tax on the online real-money gaming business.

The investors have also requested a brief meeting with the prime minister and other relevant officials to discuss the subject further.

Indian investors such as Kalaari Capital, ChrysCapital, Orios Venture Partners, Lumikai, Kotak Private Equity, Malabar Investments, Smile Group, and Matrix Partners India have also signed the petition.

Think Investments, Clairvest Group, Tribe Capital, DST Global, Alpha Wave Global, and RTP Global are among the international investors.

The action comes after a group of around 130 real-money gaming startup founders, CEOs, and industry associations signed an open letter to the government on July 15, demanding that they reconsider the recent decision to apply a 28 percent tax on the total value of pool deposits.

On July 11, the GST Council resolved to levy the highest GST slab of 28% on the full worth of money paid by users to play skill-based games in a uniform way, with no differentiation made between game of skill and game of chance. Gaming platforms are currently subject to an 18% GST on platform fees.

After years of consideration, this decision stunned the country’s booming real-money gaming industry. Several industry executives and trade groups have warned that this move will “wipe out the entire industry and result in job losses.”

According to a recent FICCI-EY analysis, the real-money gaming category accounted for 77 percent of India’s gaming sector revenues in 2022, which stood at Rs 13,500 crore. These revenues are expected to increase to Rs 16,700 crore in 2023 and Rs 23,100 crore in 2025, according to the report.