Supreme Court halts Rs 5,712 crore GST demand against Paytm's First Games
text_fields
The Supreme Court of India has stayed a massive Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice amounting to Rs 5,712 crore issued to First Games, the real-money gaming platform owned by fintech company One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand.
According to a regulatory filing made public on Saturday, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in New Delhi had earlier sent a show cause notice (SCN) to First Games in April.
The gaming platform subsequently challenged the notice by filing a writ petition in the apex court.
"We hereby inform you that First Games has informed us on May 24, 2025 at 10:44 am (IST) that in the writ petition ...filed by First Games challenging the said SCN, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has on May 23, 2025 stayed the proceedings of the SCN," the filing stated.
One97 Communications clarified that this tax demand is not isolated to their platform but is part of a broader issue affecting the entire real-money gaming industry. The Supreme Court is currently hearing the matter as part of a wider legal examination into GST applicability in this sector.