Tax authorities have reduced the combined principal GST demands against Dream11 operator Sporta Technologies, Gameskraft Technologies and Play Games24x7 from about INR702.1 billion to INR173 billion after recalculating liabilities using player deposits.
Indian tax authorities have sharply cut the principal goods and services tax claims against three major online gaming companies after the Supreme Court ruled that the levy should be assessed using deposit-based valuations rather than broader turnover-style calculations, according to adjudication orders reviewed by exchange4media.
The reassessed demands against Sporta Technologies, which operates Dream11, Gameskraft Technologies and Play Games24x7 have fallen from about INR702.1 billion to INR173 billion, a reduction of roughly 75%. Exchange4media said the drop amounts to INR529.2 billion. The revision reflects the court’s May 27, 2026 ruling, which upheld retrospective taxation of online money gaming and directed officials to calculate pending cases on the basis of deposits actually made by players, excluding winnings that were recycled without being withdrawn.
In Gameskraft’s case, tax officials recalculated the liability using verified player deposits rather than the cumulative value of buy-ins, which had previously captured winnings that were put back into later games. Even so, the companies are not out of the woods. The confirmed principal sums do not include interest or penalties, and Gameskraft and Play Games24x7 were each assessed penalties equal to their confirmed tax, while any amounts already paid were credited against the claims, according to the orders reviewed by exchange4media.
The reassessments concern past liabilities, not the industry’s current legal position. India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, enacted in August 2025, banned online money games, adding another layer of pressure on a sector already facing one of the country’s most significant tax disputes. Mint reported earlier that the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the 28% GST levy on online gaming and rejected challenges to retrospective demands worth more than INR1.5 trillion, underscoring how the dispute has shifted from the scale of the tax itself to how it should be measured.
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