357 illegal offshore gaming firms blocked; 2,400 bank accounts attached: Sitharaman

New Delhi, March 23: Illegal offshore gaming firms have been blocked by GST intelligence officers, according to the Finance Ministry on Saturday.

The Ministry highlighted that 357 offshore illegal gaming firms have been blocked by GST intelligence officers and 2,400 bank accounts were attached.

Additionally, the Ministry also cautioned the public against engaging with offshore gaming platforms, even though many Bollywood celebrities and cricketers, besides social media influencers, are found to be endorsing these platforms.

About 700 offshore e-gaming companies are under the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) scanner, as these entities are evading GST by failing to register, concealing taxable pay-ins, and bypassing tax obligations.

Investigations also revealed that these offshore companies operated through 'mule' bank accounts to process transactions, the Minis-try said, adding the DGGI blocked 166 'mule' accounts.

"So far, 357 websites/URLs of illegal/non-compliant offshore online money gaming entities have been blocked by the DGGI, in coordination with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)," the Ministry said in a statement.

In two other separate cases, DGGI collectively blocked nearly 2,400 bank accounts and put a freeze on nearly Rs 126 crore.

In another operation against a few Indian nationals who were running online money gaming platforms from outside India, it 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 Plat-form and are using 'mule' bank accounts to collect money from Indian customers.

DGGI has so far blocked 166 'mule' accounts linked to these platforms. Three such persons have been arrested till now, and an investigation against more such individuals is under progress.

Under the GST law, 'On-line Money Gaming', being an actionable claim, is classified as a supply of 'Goods' and is subject to a 28 per cent tax. Entities operating in this sector are required to register under the GST.

With the upcoming IPL season, enforcement actions by tax officers will be more stringent to curb illicit gaming operations, the Ministry said, urging people to engage only with regulated e-gaming platforms.

The Ministry said non-compliance by foreign entities distorts fair competition, harms local businesses, and skews the market. These unscrupulous foreign entities circumvent restrictions by creating new web addresses.

The Ministry further said, "It has been observed that many Bollywood celebrities and cricketers, along with YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram influencers, are found endorsing these platforms, and therefore, the public is advised to remain cautious and not engage with offshore online money gaming platforms as it may jeopardise their personal finances and indirectly support activities that under-mine financial integrity and national security".

- With inputs from news agencies