| The Big Story: A regulatory overhaul will take India’s online gaming industry to the next level
(By Elizabeth Beattie) It’s no secret the online gaming industry is flourishing in India, with Deloitte forecasting it will be worth $2.8 billion by 2022, up from $1.1 billion in 2019. Encouraged by smartphones and affordable data, market conditions are promising for businesses, save for a niggling regulatory concern.
India does not currently have a unified law that deals with gaming, and until it does, the industry is vulnerable to a patchwork of regulations, which may differ drastically from state to state. Ranjana Adhikari, co-head of the Media, Entertainment & Gaming practice at Nishith Desai Associates, says the key challenge the absence of a central law poses “is the instability it causes to the business for online operators owing to different policies and approaches taken by each state.” While for some states, skills-based gaming businesses are protected under the constitution of India as “legitimate businesses,” others have included skill and other kinds of gaming under the prohibitions, she explains.
It's this mismatched approach... | 