The protest against the 28 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online gaming is getting bigger. After entrepreneurs in the gaming business penned an open letter pressing their concerns, Deep Patel, a FIFA, poker, and chess gamer, has written an open letter to the revenue secretary.
The open letter, alongside other ongoing discussions on the subject, has made gaming a trending topic on social media, with #GamingNotBetting being used all over posts discussing the new GST slab.
Patel says he has written the letter on behalf of over 400 million gamers in India.
He expressed his concern about clubbing gaming, betting, addiction, and skill under one rule.
“In one stroke, you called us addicts, and gaming as betting. Ban gaming. Banish it. Obliterate it from the face of India as it goes against our social values,” an excerpt of the letter read.
The letter further said, “There are more than three billion active gamers in the world. There are hundreds of millions of people in the world who earn their livelihood from gaming. Yes, sir, a large number of these gamers are Indian. We play online chess and poker and earn either our livelihood or supplemental income from it. Yes, we practice these mind sports much like cricketers or footballers do. Would you call the cricketers and footballers addicts because they love playing the game, spend hours honing their skills, and some earn their livelihood from it? Are all of us now like drug addicts since the term is most associated with narcotic drugs?”
Patel said in his letter that gamers are hardworking and law-abiding citizens of India.
“We understand that gaming is an important part of India’s digital economy. We fully support our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of the digital economy contributing a substantial part of India’s proposed $5 trillion economy,” he said in the letter.