Mobile Premier League, the Indian gaming app, will be laying off 350 employees as it takes steps to get through a tax imposed by the Indian government on online gaming companies. This comes after Indian government’s decision of imposing 28% tax on funds that online gaming companies collect from its customers.
According to Sai Srinivas, the MPL CEO, the new rule will increase the company’s tax burden by 350%-400%. The company is revisiting expenses related to their server and office infrastructure.
Srinivas said, “Adjusting to a sudden increase of this magnitude means we need to make some very tough decisions … We must take steps to bring these expenses down in order to survive and to ensure that the business remains viable,”.
According to an unidentified source, half the workforce employed by the company could be laid off, with the product team to be the most affected with more than 60 job cuts.
The current number of employees working at the company is unclear at this point.
More than 100 firms in the gaming sector has wrote to India’s finance ministry that the tax will stifle foreign investment and put the already invested $2.5 billion at risk.
