New Regulation Policy Plan for Indian Online Gaming Startups

In a meeting with Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on June 7, Indian skill gaming companies and industry groups requested a light-touch self-regulatory framework to supervise online gaming platforms, according to sources familiar with the subject.

On June 7, Chandrasekhar hosted a two-hour brainstorming session with the founders and executives of a number of gaming platforms, including Dream Sports, the Mobile Premier League (MPL), Nazara Technologies, and industry associations such as Indiatech.org, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), and the E-Gaming Federation (EGF).

Lawyers and representatives of the recently formed inter-ministerial task group to oversee internet gambling also attended the meeting.

This revelation comes at a time when the gaming industry has seen unparalleled growth in terms of app downloads and income in recent years as a result of pandemic-induced house confinement. According to KPMG research, the global gaming industry was anticipated to be worth Rs 13,600 crore in the fiscal year 2021 and is likely to reach Rs 29,000 crore by the fiscal year 2025.

MPL and Games24x7 are two startup unicorns (businesses valued at more than $1 billion) that have emerged in the last year. In 2019, Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, became the first unicorn in space.

However, because gambling is a state topic, numerous state governments, notably Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Karnataka, have outlawed or attempted to ban skill-based real money gaming, which makes for a large portion of the industry’s income.