Companies involved in online money gaming have informed government officials that they are shutting down this business and compliance with the new law is being ensured.
Highlights
The Online Gaming Bill was passed in Parliament last month
After this ban, some game developers and publishers have formed an association
The government gets tax of about Rs 20,000 crore from this business.
Online real money gaming was recently banned in the country. At the end of last month, the online gaming bill brought by the central government was passed in Parliament. After this ban, companies associated with this segment have held a meeting with government officials including Electronics and Information Technology Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
A media report has stated that in the meeting between representatives of companies related to this segment and Ashwini, promoting online and social games as well as esports outside the scope of the new gaming regulations was a major issue. After the implementation of this law, online money gaming will be banned in the country. This will force gaming companies to close their business or these companies will have to change their business model. The annual revenue of online money gaming business in the country is more than Rs 31,000 crore. This business generates tax of about Rs 20,000 crore.
Companies involved in online money gaming have told government officials that they are shutting down this business and compliance is being ensured for the new law. However, not all companies in this segment are ready to follow the ban. A23, a firm offering games like rummy and poker, has challenged this ban in a petition filed in the Karnataka High Court. The petition states that this law makes the legitimate business of playing online games of skill a 'crime'. This will lead to the closure of various gaming firms. The petition has demanded that the new law be declared unconstitutional for applying to games of skill like rummy and poker.
After this ban, some game developers and publishers have also formed an association . The Indian Game Publishers and Developers Association (IGPDA) includes SuperGaming, Reliance Games, Dot9 Games, Nazara Technologies, Gametion, nCore Games and some other companies. A large part of the gaming segment in the country is connected to mobile and more than 90 percent of gamers play games on smartphones or tablets.
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