The Central Government is in talšks on developing a national framework for the Online Gaming Industry in the country to effectively regulate them without hampering their growth.
According tšøo ET, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) conducted a meeting with over 40 online gaming platforms including the likes of Mobile Premier League (MPL), Dream11 ź©µetc.
Representatives from the All India Gaming Federation were also invited in the meeting which was held recently presided over by the Minister of State for Infź§ormation Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
āThe idea is to support and facilitate the growth and expansion of all gaming platforms while also effectively regulating them. However, the regulations shouāld not impede their growth,ā a senior government official said as reported by ET.
Thš±e Online Gaming Industry has been calling for a ācodeā reportedly over the last few months. Back in Decemberš¦ last year, several Online Gaming Platforms wrote to MeitY for the same.
According to ET, an official revealed that one of the major concerną¼s of the meeting was the big debate over skill versus chance since no regulatory body is present to decide about the same. Along with that, the Rajasthan governmentās draft Rajasthan Virtual Online Sports (Regulation) Bill 2022 was also discussed at the meeting, along with other state governmentsā legislations and drafts for the same.
This is why thāe industry has calleź¦d for a central regulatory body that would be āstable and predictableā so that there are no sudden shocks to the industry. The industry also demands for amendments to the Gambling Act so that there is a clear interpretation of the law for online gaming.
As per statistaās report, the Online Gaming Industry in India values at around $1.54 billion in 2022. This industry is expected to groź¦w at a CAGR of 15% and will soon hit the $2 billion mark. The Government has also shown interest in this industry from a taxation perspective.
The Government recently imposed a 28% GST on the online gaming industry. The panel led ļ·½by Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma has also mutually agreed that the GST will be imposed on gross gaming revenue and not on a per-transaction basis. This move by the Central Government clearly discourages online gaming and betting across the country.