Mumbai: According to the companies, the recent decision made by the GST council to raise indirect taxes on online gaming will cause significant harm to India's online gaming industry and could potentially lead to the loss of employment for thousands of people.“Imposing GST on CEA will render the legitimate online gaming industry unviable, effectively driving consumers towards offshore and illegal platforms that pay no taxes, resulting in loss of taxes and outflow of foreign exchange. Further, this will also lead to loss of employment for thousands working in this sector,” said Games24x7 co-founder, co-CEO Bhavin Pandya one of the country's top fantasy sports platforms.At the 50th meeting of the GST Council in Delhi, chaired by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a decision was made to impose a 28 per cent GST on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos based on their full value. The Group of Ministers (GoM) had previously agreed on the proposed taxes for these activities, but there was no consensus on online gaming as Goa suggested a lower tax rate of 18 per cent on platform fees.Indian gaming industry raised $ 2.8 billion from domestic and global investors combined in the last five years said Invest India."This development indicates an increase from 1.8 rupees per 100 rupees spent on a game to 28 rupees on per 100. This will not only discourage players from playing, the professionals for whom its a livelihood will be burdened by taxation. It may also force them to play on offshore platforms, and the whole vision of creating a digital progressing gaming ecosystem seems blurry at this point," said tech policy lawyer and EPWA (E-Gamers and Players Welfare Association) director Shivani Jha."There is a fine line between skill-based games and casinos/betting apps, and they must not be treated the same way; a levy of an 18 per cent tax rate would have been helpful for the gaming industry. Introducing a 28 per cent tax rate not only hampers online gaming platforms' capacity to develop new games and technologies but also undermines their competitiveness in the market," said IndiaPlays COO Aaditya Shah.