The Karnataka High Court ruling on striking down certain provisions of the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021, which prohibited and criminalised the activities of offering and playing online games, has been welcomed by those in the online gaming business and enthusiasts.
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The country is the biggest market for fantasy sports globally, with over 13 crore users playing across over 200 platforms.
Bimal Julka, chairman, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), said, “The verdict is welcome news for all the sports fans in India. This judgement follows other positive judgements given by High Courts in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Mumbai that recognised fantasy sports as games of skill and a legitimate business activity protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.’‘
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Deepak Gullapalli, MD & CEO, Head Digital Works, which owns A23, an online skill gaming platform, urged the State to view this sector as one that can be regulated. “We welcome the verdict but at the same time it has always been our intention to work with the State to have a solution that works well for all stakeholders,” he said.
Prior to Karnataka, the Kerala and Madras High Courts also struck down the bans against online gaming, providing hope to the gaming sector, which is considered as the sunrise sector that has the potential to help India achieve the $1 trillion digital economy dream by 2025, according to Zupee, a gaming startup.
Realising the potential of the online gaming sector, the State and the Union Governments should work together in consultation with industry stakeholders to draw out detailed guidelines, as per industry observers.
“The issue as to what constitutes a game of chance or a game of skill is debatable and has been under judicial scrutiny for a while. A clear legal and regulatory framework will remove ambiguities and disputes can be avoided and also the undesired elements of gambling can be filtered out appropriately,” said Manish Mishra, partner, J Sagar Associates (JSA), a law firm.
Mitesh Gangar, co-founder, PlayerzPot, said lifting of the ban brought huge relief to the industry which has been placed on uncertainty in the last many months. “It is important that the Government involve stakeholders and consider their views before drafting any regulations so that we will have a balanced regulatory framework that will support continuity,” he added.