The Karnataka High Court has said in one of its recent decisions that the game of Rummy played with cards is not gambling. High Court Justice SR Krishna Kumar said that regardless of whether or not money is invested in the game, Rummy is a game of skill and not of chance.

Justice Kumar also said that the terms of betting and gambling in the CGST Act do not and cannot include games of skill within their purview.

It was said by the High Court that Rummy whether played with stakes (money) or without stakes is not gambling. The High Court observed that there is no difference between offline or online rummy and both are largely games of skill and not of chance.

Case Brief - 

The Karnataka High Court said this on the 21 thousand crore notice issued by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence to the online gaming platform Gamescraft. 21,000 crore tax notice issued to the company by the High Court, despite the stay of the show cause notice issued. 

The judge also held that other online games that are games of skill and not chance are also not gambling. 

Gamescraft was issued an information notice from the GST authorities on 8 September 2022, in which a demand of 21 thousand crores was made. This notice was challenged in the High Court. Gamescraft argued that games of skill played for money at stake do not represent betting and are games of skill.

However, the Karnataka High Court held that games played on gaming platforms are not taxable under the head of betting and gambling. As stated under the rules of CGST. In the 325-page judgement,