India’s GST Council yesterday agreed to levy a 28 per cent tax on online gaming, casinos and horse racing and the tax would be levied on full face value.

“GST Council has decided that online gaming, casinos and horse racing will be taxed at 28 per cent at entry point on full face value of bets,” West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told reporters in New Delhi.

The Minister, according to a PTI report, said that changes will be made in the GST law to state that these three supplies are not actionable claims, like that of lottery and betting.

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Maharashtra forest cultural and fisheries minister, said the Council has decided to do away with the distinction of game of skill and chance in case of online gaming.

Twenty-eight per cent tax would be levied on the full face value of bets, Mungantiwar said, adding that the council has also approved setting up of appellate tribunals.

Meanwhile, earlier on June 12,  India’s Minister of State for Electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said the government has prepared a framework regarding online gaming through which games involving betting, harmful to users, and that can be addictive will be banned in India.

“For the first time, we have prepared a framework regarding online gaming in that we will not allow three types of games in the country. Games that involve betting or can be harmful to the user and that involve a factor of addiction will be banned in the country,” Chandrasekhar had then told news agency ANI.

Earlier, as Indianbroadcastingworld.com has reported several times, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting too had issued advisories warning print media and TV channels from airing advertisements related to several categories of online games that involved betting and could be addictive and harmful to users and subscribers.