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Ashneer Grover’s CrickPe Shuts Down Due To Tax Regulations

Ashneer Grover, one of the key persons behind CrickPe, is known for his entrepreneurial ventures and occupies some key roles, one of which is that of a co-founder of BharatPe. Another one of his ventures was the fantasy gaming company CrickPe. Launched in early 2023 ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, CrickPe aimed to carve out a niche in the competitive fantasy gaming market. However, just two years later, the platform ceased operations, citing regulatory hurdles and taxation issues as primary reasons for its closure. This article talks about CrickPe shutting down its operations and why it decided to quit the gaming industry.

Ashneer Grover’s CrickPe Shuts Down

Credit: Entrackr

CrickPe was introduced as a unique player in the fantasy cricket arena, promising an innovative business model that aimed to benefit not just users but also cricketers and cricketing bodies. Grover envisioned a prize distribution system where a significant portion of the winnings would be allocated to players and cricket organizations, thus fostering a sense of community and support for the sport. The initial plan involved distributing ₹80 Crore from ₹100 Crore to users, retaining ₹10 Crore as profit, and allocating another ₹10 Crore to cricketing entities. This was a system that would benefit both the company and the players.

While CrickPe’s idea was very good, the fact is that the fantasy gaming industry has become very crowded, with established platforms like Dream11, MPL, and My11Circle providing strict competition and cutting into profits. Upon its launch, CrickPe attracted attention for its fresh approach. Grover’s reputation as a successful entrepreneur and the growing popularity of fantasy sports in India created a buzz around the platform. While it is tough to carve out market share in an industry full of companies like fantasy gaming, CrickPe started off decently well and made a name for itself due to Ashneer Grover’s backing.

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However, just two years after launching, CrickPe decided to cease all operations. It has been reported that this is not because of the high competition but because of the new regulations and tax implications that the government has enforced on this industry. While they have shut down all operations, the platform has not yet been deleted. A message on the app confirmed that while the operations have stopped, the company is trying to navigate through the difficulties of this industry. The message said: “We’ve had an innings together. While we won’t be rolling out new contests on the app anymore, this is just a timeout.”

Breaking: CrickPe gets clean bowled by the 28% GST tax…
Who could’ve guessed that a startup built on fantasy would itself become a fantasy? 🫣😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/VDMuISRFzd

— Parth Parmar🥂 (@Parthstwt_) February 24, 2025

The Indian government’s regulatory framework for online real-money gaming became increasingly stringent, particularly with the introduction of a hefty 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the full face value of bets, effective from October 1, 2023. This marked a significant increase from the previous 18% GST on platform fees for skill-based games. Grover expressed his concerns regarding this tax hike, arguing that it placed an unsustainable burden on fantasy gaming platforms like CrickPe. This has caused a huge setback for all Indian fantasy gaming platforms, and everyone is trying to figure out the best way to deal with this.

While most companies are navigating through these new regulations and keep waiting for a rebate from the government in the future, CrickPe decided to halt all operations instead and wait until they figure out the best way to deal with this. This can turn out to be both good and bad as while the company can concentrate on solving the problem ahead of them; it will have to rebuild its customer base if they plan to launch again in the future. It will be very interesting to see if CrickPe will end up resuming its operations in the future or call it a day and end all operations.

For more news articles and informative updates on CrickPe, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram.

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