Tax tussle: Govt not in favour of banning foreign gaming platforms

MeitY feels these are not a security threat

The government is not in favour of the Department of Revenue’s recommendation of “banning” 200 offshore online gaming sites. According to officials, “economic-linked matters like revenue loss cannot warrant a ban”. The government is of the considered view that these platforms are still not a serious threat to internal security.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had written to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and other relevant ministries a month ago, seeking to impose a ban on foreign gaming firms causing revenue loss to the exchequer.             

“We had flagged the