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Rajat Bansal steps down as CTO of games24x7 after four years
BENGALURU: Rajat Bansal is moving on from Games24x7, closing a four-year chapter that saw him steer one of India’s largest multi-gaming platforms, serving 100 million users and handling over five billion games annually. As CTO, he led product and platform engineering across My11Circle, RummyCircle, PokerCircle, and Wowzy, oversaw DevOps managing USD20 million of infrastructure, Infosec, IT, PMO, Data Engineering, and BI functions, and guided a 350-strong engineering team across Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Under his leadership, Games24x7 achieved 40 per cent YoY growth, delivered high-availability systems at 300k TPS with 99.9 per cent uptime, cut infrastructure costs by 67 per cent, and pioneered AI-driven solutions across product, data, and engineering operations. He also built initiatives like GameTechAccelerate and TechXpedite to establish Games24x7 as a technology leader in India’s gaming ecosystem.
Bansal brings over 25 years of global experience, having held senior technology leadership roles at Amazon, Hike Messenger, Naukri.com, Adobe, and Microsoft. His tenure included leading Amazon Hub Lockers engineering, scaling Prime Video’s global digital supply chain, building India’s largest messaging platform at Hike, and managing multi-terabyte data pipelines and distributed systems across continents.
Games24x7 marks a milestone in his career-but the horizon is calling. Rajat Bansal leaves behind a legacy of innovation, operational excellence, and high-performance engineering. Onward to new adventures.
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Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
