Feature
GST will be launched during midnight on June 30th in Parliament
New Delhi: The new indirect tax regime-The Goods and Services Tax (GST)-will be launched at the midnight of June 30 in the Central Hall of Parliament in an hour-long event that will evoke memories of the “Tryst with Destiny” moment of 1947.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and H.D. Deve Gowda will be among those who will attend the special event, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told a press conference here.
On the midnight of August 14-15, the country ushered in Independence from British rule with a special function in the Central Hall in which the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, made his now famous speech “Tryst with Destiny”.
“GST switch-over will happen from June 30 midnight. Late on June 30, a programme will be organised in the Central Hall where all Members of Parliament, state Finance Ministers, Chief Ministers and officials who assisted in (the rollout of) GST and chairpersons of the Empowered Committee will be present,” he said.
“GST will be launched exactly at midnight,” he said.
Acknowledging the role of previous governments in readying the GST, Jaitley said: “Many governments have played an important role. The UPA government announced GST in 2006 and the Constitutional amendment was introduced in 2011. GST was passed unanimously by Parliament in 2016.”
Both the President and the Prime Minister will speak on the subject and two short films on GST will be screened in the Central Hall.
So far, apart from Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, all the states have passed the State GST (SGST) law. Jaitley said that while Kerala will pass the SGST this week, the process was still on in Kashmir.
“If any state is left out of GST, the traders and consumers both will suffer. Traders will not get any input tax credit,” he said.
Jaitley said since a two-month period relaxation had been given to traders in filing returns, businesses will get ample time to get ready for the new indirect tax system.
“In July and August, we have extended the date for filing the monthly returns. Industry and trade have to prepare themselves, it’s not a very complicated system,” he said.
“No one has any business not to be ready. Now the readiness will be determined by September 15 when the traders have to file the first return. If the trader will still not be ready, probably he doesn’t want to be ready,” he added.
Talking about the new indirect taxation system, Jaitley said that in the medium and long term, GST, being a more efficient system, will check tax evasion resulting in increase in revenues.
“States and Centre’s revenue will increase. It should have positive impact on GDP. Size of formal economy should increase. In short term, there could be some challenges. But in the long run, the number of assesses will increase,” he said.
Jaitley said till last week 65 lakh traders had registered themselves under GST.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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