NEW DELHI: Intelligence officers of GST have blocked 357 websites of illegal offshore online gaming entities and attached 2,400 bank accounts in the latest crackdown on the segment, the finance ministry said on Saturday.
The action was carried out by Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), which has 700 offshore entities in e-gaming segment under its scanner as they are evading GST by failing to register and concealing taxable pay-in.
DGGI officers also conducted another operation against a few Indian nationals, who were running online money gaming platforms from outside India. The probe revealed that these individuals were facilitating online money gaming to Indian customers through various such online platforms including Satguru Online Money Gaming Platform, Mahakaal Online Money Gaming Platform and Abhi247 Online Money Gaming Platform and are using mule bank accounts to collect money from customers.
DGGI has so far blocked 166 mule accounts linked with these platforms. Three persons have been arrested and investigation against more such individuals is under progress, the finance ministry statement said.
The ministry said that several Bollywood celebrities and cricketers along with YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram influencers, are endorsing these platforms, and cautioned the public not to engage with such platforms as it may jeopardise their personal finances and indirectly support activities that undermine financial integrity and national security.