O9One 97 Communications543396Tax or GST

First Games GST demand order: proposed liability reduced to INR 703.66 crore; no incremental impact

First Games (FGTPL), a subsidiary of the Company, received a GST demand order reducing the proposed liability from INR 5,712 crore to INR 703.66 crore for April 2018 to March 2023, plus penalty equal to the tax and applicable interest.

By ScoutQuest · Tue 13 Oct 2026, 7:12 PM IST · 2 min read

Revised GST demand

INR 703.66 crore (reduced from INR 5,712 crore)

Period covered

April 2018 to March 2023

Penalty and interest

penalty equal to the tax and applicable interest

An update on a tax demand relating to the Company's subsidiary.

What the order says

First Games Technology Private Limited (FGTPL), a subsidiary of One 97 Communications, has received a demand order from the Additional Commissioner of CGST Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in continuation of the show cause notice issued to it on April 28, 2025. The earlier disclosure related to the notices and the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India upholding 28% GST on online gaming companies.

The show cause notice had proposed a GST liability of INR 5,712 crores, with applicable interest and penalties payable separately, for the period from April 2018 to March 2023. In the demand order, the authority has reduced the GST liability to INR 703.66 crore (Indian Rupees Seven Hundred Three Crore and Sixty Six Lakh) towards tax for the same period, with applicable penalty equivalent to the tax liability along with applicable interest.

FGTPL is evaluating the appropriate course forward in accordance with relevant statutory provisions.

Why the Company says there is no incremental impact

• FGTPL is considered a joint venture for group consolidation purposes under applicable accounting standards, so its revenues are not consolidated in the Company's financial statements.
• The Company's share of profit or loss under the equity method is nil in its consolidated profit and loss account for the financial year ended March 31, 2026.
• FGTPL discontinued its real-money gaming operations pursuant to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, and its financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2026 were already prepared on liquidation basis.
• The carrying value of the investment in FGTPL in the consolidated financial statements of the Company as on March 31, 2026 is already nil.
• In Form A, the expected financial implications on the listed company are stated as Nil.

What investors may take away

This is a development in a matter disclosed earlier, where the liability proposed in the show cause notice has been reduced in the demand order. The order carries a penalty equivalent to the tax liability along with applicable interest, and FGTPL is yet to finalise its course of action. The Company's stated position is that the order has no incremental financial impact on it.

Nothing here is a view, opinion or recommendation of ScoutQuest, its parent, directors or employees. ScoutQuest is a technology company: this page was assembled automatically from public sources using artificial intelligence, and may contain errors or omissions. Confirm everything against the original source before you act on it. Any use of this page is at your own risk, and neither ScoutQuest nor its parent, directors or employees accepts liability for it.

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