Legal and Policies
Disney Star India cracks down on illegal streaming website
MUMBAI: There’s reason to celebrate at Disney Star India. The media behemoth’s anti-piracy cell – led by Major Ashok Yadav – has – with the help of the Ahmedabad police – managed to crack down on a clutch of betting websites which were illegally running ICC T20 World Cup cricket streams.
“What’s alarming is the number of betting websites that have popped up this time during this World Cup and they are running live match video streams simultaneously. These guys at magicwin.games, magicwin.com were streaming the matches and encouraging youngsters to place bets,” said Yadav “We filed an FIR and asked help from the cybercrime cell in Ahmedabad and it has since been blocked from running the video streams. It’s to the police commissioner’s credit that it was brought down in 10 days and the pirate arrested.”
The cybercrime cell led by Lavina Sinha along with ACP Hardik Mankadiya have named three accused Divyanshu Patel, Shubham Patel and Harsh Patel, According to both Sinha and Mankadiya, the match video feed was being provided to Divyanshu from a cable operator in Pakistan who goes by the name of Azhar, while Shubham – who is based in Canada – would bring in customers from overseas. The police have arrested Divyanshu, who is a website developer from Mehsana district in Gujarat, and another member of the ring Omkumar Goswami whose job was to open bank accounts in which the betting money was deposited. Laptops, routers, encoders, personal servers have all been recovered from Divyanshu’s premises. Additionally, an international lookout notice has been issued against Shubham Patel.
“Servers were running in Winnipeg, Russia, Germany to keep this operation going,” said Mankadiya.
For the police, the larger crime of illegal betting is something that they are further chasing.
Investigations are currently ongoing around the fintech company that was involved in the UPI transactions for betting transfers while also looking into the media agency which had placed billboards throughout Ahmedabad promoting magicwin.
“Celebrities like Vidyut Jamal were endorsing magicwin without really knowing what they were doing,” said Mankadiya.
“We hope the new advertising regulations will help make these celebs more aware and be careful about what they are promoting,” said a media professional.
Shall we say Amen to that!
Legal and Policies
India’s new income tax law and higher F&O levies take effect from 1st April
A sweeping overhaul of the tax code, stiffer securities transaction taxes and relief for travellers and tech firms all land at once
NEW DELHI: India’s tax landscape shifts gears on Tuesday. The Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaces the Income-tax Act, 1961, comes into force from April 1, 2026, alongside a clutch of budgetary measures that will be felt by traders, tourists, technology firms and ordinary taxpayers alike.
The new Act is not a reinvention of tax policy so much as a tidying up of it. Gone is the unwieldy distinction between the assessment year and the previous year; in its place comes a single “tax year” framework designed to be more logical and reader-friendly. Taxpayers will also, for the first time, be able to claim tax deducted at source refunds even when income tax returns are filed after the deadline, without incurring penal charges.
For those who trade derivatives, however, the news is less comfortable. Securities transaction tax on futures contracts rises to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent, while STT on options premiums and the exercise of options is hiked to 0.15 per cent from 0.1 per cent and 0.125 per cent respectively. The government has made no secret of its intent: the higher levy is aimed squarely at curbing speculative bets in the futures and options segment and shielding retail investors from ruinous losses. The numbers tell a grim story. The number of individual investors active in the F&O segment fell from 1.06 crore in FY25 to about 75.43 lakh by December 2025. A Sebi study found that individual investors had racked up net losses of more than Rs 1.05 lakh crore in FY25 alone.
Overseas travellers and those remitting money abroad for medical and education purposes get some relief. Tax collected at source on overseas tour packages has been slashed to 2 per cent from 20 per cent, while TCS on Liberalised Remittance Scheme transfers for medical and educational purposes drops to 2 per cent from 5 per cent.
The data centre industry, too, has reason to cheer. Any foreign company procuring data centre services in India will enjoy a 20-year tax holiday stretching to 2047, shielding its global income from Indian tax authorities. Whether a global firm sets up its own facility or simply buys services from an Indian data centre, the tax treatment will be identical, ensuring a level playing field. India’s effective corporate tax rate stands at 25.17 per cent.
Software companies get a further fillip: the safe harbour threshold for IT services has been raised sharply from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, a move designed to reduce litigation and give the sector greater certainty.
On the transition, the income tax department has confirmed that its e-filing portal will handle compliance under both the old and new Acts during the switchover period. Taxpayers filing returns for assessment year 2026-27, which covers the period governed by the old Act, will do so in July 2026 using the old forms. Advance tax payments for tax year 2026-27, commencing from June 2026, will follow the new Act.
One sweeping law, several sharp edges, and a deadline that waits for no one.
