Amid lack of regulation, online gaming in limbo, failing to attract investment
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: The Centre’s failure in appointing proposed self-regulatory bodies (SRBs) for the online gaming sector has left the industry in limbo, with small firms struggling to get investors and large ones innovating without any legal guardrails to try and rope in more paying consumers.
Industry stakeholders, policy consultants and lawyers told Mint that next year’s expected Supreme Court rulings on state-level regulation for the online gaming industry and the taxation liability of the sector will be key to renewing discussions around how the nascent online gaming sector should be regulated going forward. This could also help save the sector from regulatory limbo and attract investments again.
Also read | Consumer affairs ministry cancels e-gaming study planned for framing new rules A senior official directly involved with the Union ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) said on condition of anonymity that there are “no ongoing conversations on the SRB model for online gaming within the IT ministry, at the moment." An email sent to Meity on the matter did not receive a response. Industry consultants said this is a key hurdle that the nascent sector is looking to overcome.
Kazim Rizvi, founding director of policy think tank The Dialogue, said the Centre’s role will be key in establishing checks and balances in an industry where consumer offerings have controversially fallen between the definitions of gaming and gambling. “The Centre’s role in enforcing a scientific evaluation process would be important.
While there are limited or no ongoing conversations right now, there’s hope that talks to enforce regulations on online gaming firms will pick up next year. Various
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