No Dice, All Bets Are Off

And then a slew of suicides, especially in South India, brought online gaming under the scanner. The proliferation of loan apps that charge hefty interest rates and shame people if they fail to pay up added to the complexity. With court cases highlighting how operators were luring people with celebrity brand amb­assadors like cricketers Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli and actors Tamannaah and Rana Daggubati, besides advertisements promising tenfold returns, the 바카라�sunrise바카라� industry has entered a corridor of uncertainty.

In November 2020, the Tamil Nadu government passed an ordinance banning online gaming activities that entail placing bets and where the result is ­influenced more by chance than skill. Online rummy operators have moved the Madras High Court challenging the ordinance. Led by four of the biggest rummy companies바카라�Rummy Circle, A23, Junglee and Rummy Culture바카라�the operators argue that it impinges on the right to free trade and commerce. Meanwhile, Karnataka and Kerala are thinking on Tamil Nadu바카라�s lines and, if these three states join Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it will spell doom for the online rummy business that accounts for approximately 50 per cent of India바카라�s online skill gaming industry, estimated to be worth around Rs 5,250 crore by KPMG. The potential of the business can바카라�t be denied, however, and the Union ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Information Technology have made some effort in ­recent weeks to address the grey areas. While the I&B ministry has managed to stop operators like MPL and Games24x7 from running advertisement campaigns that are silent on the perils of placing bets, the IT ministry has not been successful in preventing illegal betting sites to thrive even in states that have banned online gaming activities.

바카라�Some concerns surrounding real money online gaming, especially those relating to addiction and allurement using enticing advertisements, are justified,바카라� says Jay Sayta, a regulatory expert on gaming. 바카라�As individuals have a propensity to lose vast sums of money on online gaming websites, regulation is definitely required. Banning all kinds of games for stakes will just lead to their proliferation in the grey market. It is also impossible to regulate the internet at the state level as it leads to problems of enforcement and compliance.바카라�

On December 14, 2020, a division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the Centre to file a reply on a PIL seeking a direction to the IT ministry to exercise its powers under sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to prevent online gambling websites. Stating that gambling or wagering on games of chance is illegal and most state legislations have expressly forbidden it, the petitioners sought the quashing of an order dated October 21, 2020, in which the Centre had said it did not have the competence to block gambling and betting websites.

바카라�Due to the bans in Andhra and Telangana, law-abiding operators like us immediately stepped out of the market, while illegal and unscrupulous operators continue to take customers,바카라� says Bhavin Pandya, co-founder and CEO, Games24x7. 바카라�This is why the Rs 1,500 crore Chinese gambling scam happened in Telangana, and now you have a number of reports about players continuing to access online rummy from these jur­isdictions using fake GPS on sites that do not intend to follow the law. It exp­oses players to the worst operators.바카라�

Meanwhile, the NITI Aayog has added to the consternation of operators by floating a draft paper in December 2020 titled 바카라�Guiding Principles for the Uniform National-Level Regulation of Online Fantasy Sports Platforms in India바카라�. This is the government바카라�s first att­empt to put systems in place in a rather unregimented industry. NITI Aayog바카라�s focus on fantasy sports, however, has irked most operators. 바카라�NITI Aayog should set up a single self-regulatory body to standardise regulations governing the entire skill gaming industry,바카라� says Sameer Barde, CEO, The Online Rummy Federation, the self-regulatory body for India바카라�s online rummy industry. 바카라�Like fantasy sports, India바카라�s skill gaming industry suffers from the same byzantine set of state-specific laws and regulations. There is a need to regulate the broader skill gaming industry, not just fantasy sports. Given the significant overlap between fantasy sports and other games of skill (including pool, ­carrom, quiz and rummy), such an appro­ach would benefit the country.바카라�

NITI Aayog didn바카라�t say who they consulted before releasing the paper. Top operators like MPL, Games24x7, Paytm First Games or Head Digital Works say they were not invited. 바카라�The Frontier Technology Vertical of NITI Aayog has released the draft discussion paper in its capacity as a policy think-tank on a topic that is current and where there is potential to leverage technology,바카라� says Anna Roy, advisor (data management and analysis), NITI Aayog. 바카라�The paper was released for public consultations from the entire ecosystem of stakeholders. I request you to take the draft discussion paper in its present form with no further qualifications at this stage.바카라�

Industry sources say the focus on fantasy sports is understandable. Coming at the back of IPL, the government wants to ride cricket바카라�s popularity and maximise the revenue potential of a particular fantasy operator. Fantasy also has the sports ministry바카라�s support at a time when Esports is set to become a medal sport in the 2022 Asian Games. The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, a body formed by owners of fantasy cricket operators Dream11, is said to have had a major role in drafting the NITI Aayog paper, though FIFS chairman Bimal Julka den­ies this. Cont­rolled by Dream11, a sponsor of the Indian cricket board (BCCI), FIFS is a self-regulatory body with a vice-like grip on a clutch of fantasy operators like My11Circle. Endorsed by M.S. Dhoni, Dream11 faces charges of tax evasion reportedly amounting to over Rs 2,000 crore in the Supreme Court. In March 2020, the apex court also stayed a Bombay High Court order that had said fantasy sports involved skill and didn바카라�t entail betting or gambling.

Online operators claim that the broader skill gaming industry has been attracting a lot of foreign investment from aggressive global players like Sequoia and Tiger Global. Over Rs 5,000 crore in foreign investment has come into India in the overall skill gaming ind­ustry. While 10 non-fantasy sports companies have successfully raised capital, only two fantasy sports players have att­racted FDI. 바카라�Due to lack of a structured and regulated framework for operators and state authorities, online gaming hasn바카라�t reached its true economic potential,바카라� says Piyush Choudhary, director of sales (India subcontinent) of Sportradar, an international organisation that sits at the intersection of sports, media and betting industries. Expert Jay Sayta adds: 바카라�We need a central legislation to regulate the industry and provide guidelines for state governments on what kinds of games are permissible, along with rules for limits on game play, KYC, anti-laundering etc. It seems the Centre is looking at amending the IT Act, 2000, to define and regulate online gaming. It will end the regulatory confusion around online skill gaming.바카라�