New Delhi [India]March 22 (ANI): Enforcement action against offshore online gaming institutions has been intensified by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI).
According to a statement from the Finance Ministry on Saturday, around 700 offshore institutions involved in online money gaming/betting/gambling supply are under the agency’s scanner.
Show full article
The Finance Ministry said that these offshore organizations have failed to register GST, hiding taxable pay-in and ignoring tax obligations.
As part of large-scale cracks, 357 websites/illegal/non-non-non-non-non-disconnected offshore online money gaming institutions have been blocked by agency DGGI in close coordination with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MIITY).
Recently citing an operation against some illegal gaming platforms, the Finance Ministry said that DGGI targeted and blocked bank accounts, which were being used to collect funds from participants.
DGGI attached around Rs 2,000 bank accounts and Rs 4 crore in coordination with I4C and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
In another action, the Finance Ministry said that 392 bank accounts associated with UPI ID found on the websites of these offshore institutions have been put on debit freeze and the total amount of Rs 122.05 crore is provided in these accounts.
In another DGGI operation against some Indian citizens, who were running online money gaming platforms from outside India, it was revealed that the individuals were allegedly facilitating online money gaming to Indian customers through various such online platforms.
According to the Finance Ministry, those platforms include Satguru online money gaming platform, Mahakhal online money gaming platform and Abhi247 online money gaming platform.
They have been accused of using mule bank accounts to collect money from Indian customers.
The Finance Ministry said, “DGGI has so far blocked 166 mule accounts associated with these platforms. Three such people have been arrested so far and are being investigated against such persons.”
“Non-transportation by foreign institutions distorts fair competition, damages local businesses, and diagonally. These dishonest foreign institutions creating new web addresses bypassing restrictions. Investigation also revealed that these companies have operated through ‘mules’.
According to the Ministry, Bollywood celebrities and cricketers with YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram affected were found supporting these platforms, and therefore advisable the public to be vigilant and offshore online money is not attached to money gaming platforms as it can support their personal financial and indirectly support activities that can support the financial and national security.
With the upcoming IPL season, the enforcement action would be more rigid to curb illegal gaming operations, the Finance Ministry said. “It is important to choose notified and regulated platforms for responsible gaming.” (AI)
This report has been auto-generated from Ani News Service. ThePrint does not have any responsibility for its content.