The debate over how online games are taxed reached the Supreme Court on Monday, where the Centre and leading gaming firms clashed over whether games of skill like rummy, chess and bridge lose their status when money is placed on them, thereby attracting Goods and Services Tax (GST) under gambling laws, According to a detailed report by The Hindu.

The courtroom exchange, which unfolded before a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, highlighted fundamental disagreements between the government and online gaming companies.

Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, contended that any form of wagering or betting, even on a game of skill, amounted to gambling under the law. “Then it will become gambling, in spite of being a game of skill… Betting on a game of skill is statutorily considered gambling,” he stated firmly.

In a pointed response, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing one of the gaming companies, argued that the “fundamental issue” at stake was the long-standing legal recognition of games of skill as distinct from gambling. “Is the government saying that in chess, the moment I put money on it, the game metamorphosises from a game of skill into a game of chance? The character of a game cannot be so changed,” Singhvi countered.