If India wants to become a “global gaming innovation hub” regulators would need a “light touch” and “robust” governmental support, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) asserted, Asia Gaming Brief reported May 15.
The AIGF, which has over 150 members in the online gaming sector, published its proposal to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation paper for forming a National Broadcasting Policy, which was released in April. AIGF’s input was released in answer to that paper.
The federation noted the huge growth in online gaming in India, which is now at $2.2 billion and projected to almost double that by 2026. But a regulatory architecture that promotes such growth is needed, said AIGF.
“There are over 450 million online gamers in India and the pay-to-play gaming comprised 83 percent of the sector’s revenues with free-to-play games and esports exhibiting robust growth,” it wrote.
The industry is “in its infancy,” said AIGF CEO Roland Landers recently, who called for regulations to “let it grow and boom.”
Landers added, “We continue to advocate for a progressive regulation focused on consumer safety, competition and ease of innovation and believe that with a progressive regulatory and tax framework, online gaming can become the cornerstone of the $1 trillion digital economy as envisioned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.”
Some progress has been made, said AIGF, including the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which distinguished between gambling and games of skill.
However it is necessary for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to put the code into practice in the soon-to-be published Digital India Act, said the federation.
It also warned of the need to fight black market offshore gambling sites, declaring, “At present, the proliferation of online offshore gambling poses a significant threat to Indian users. Such online platforms are illegal in most states under their public gambling laws, as these platforms offer games of chance,’ the document shows.”
Illegal offshore sites are costing the government billions in wagering annually. The loss in taxes is at least $2.5 billion, the federation asserts.
Last year the government imposed a 28 percent tax on iGaming, casinos and horse racing, causing the online gaming industry to claim it would suffer huge losses.
AIGF proposes implementing a way of verifying which are legitimate gaming platforms through a “whitelist” and an accompanying blacklist of illegal operators.
