Goods and Service Tax: Mobile Premier League (MPL) co-founder Sai Srinivas said in an e-mail sent to employees that last week it was clarified that 28 per cent GST would be levied on full value instead of full gaming revenue.
MPL Lays Off: After the imposition of 28 percent GST on online gaming by the GST Council last week, online gaming app companies are being laid off on a large scale. Online sports platform Mobile Premier League has laid off about 350 people for the purpose of cutting expenses after the increase in GST. This is half the number of the company’s Indian team. This has been said in the internal e-mail issued by the company.
GST will be applicable on full price
The GST Council has decided to levy 28 percent GST (GST) on the entire amount of online gaming, casino and horse racing. Mobile Premier League (MPL) co-founder Sai Srinivas said in an e-mail sent to employees that last week it was clarified that 28 per cent GST would be levied on the full value instead of the entire gaming revenue. He said, ‘With the new rules, our tax burden will increase by 350-400 percent. As a company one can prepare for 50 percent or 100 percent growth. But to adjust this sudden increase in tax, we need to take some tough decisions.
Constant consideration of low cost
Srinivas said that as a digital company, our variable costs mainly include employees, servers and office related infrastructure. Therefore, we need to take steps to reduce these expenses in order to survive in the market and remain viable as a business, he added. We have already started work on renegotiating the cost of our server and office infrastructure.
Reduce employee costs
Srinivas said, ‘However, despite this, we still have to reduce the cost associated with our employees. We regret that about 350 of you will have to go. It is a sad decision as many of our friends and colleagues will be affected by it. An email query sent to MPL did not elicit any response.