Online gaming in India could be afflicted with regulations. Indian politician Shashi Tharoor, who is currently serving as a member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram has moved a private bill that proposed the regulation on the online gaming industry in India.
The Economic Times reported that Tharoor moved the sports bill with a demand for a regulatory mechanism for the online gaming sector in India, which is largely unorganized. The online gaming sector has seen the entry of many new players since last few years.
“The main purpose of my bill is to preserve the integrity of sports. The bill is primarily divided into two parts for this purpose. One part recognizes the offense of sports fraud and prescribes a special procedure to deal with it. The other part acknowledges the fact that the increasingly commercial nature of sports increases financial incentives for vested interests to manipulate sporting events, therefore it provides for the regulation of online sports betting activities.” said Tharoor.
The proposed bill seeks to cease the presence of gambling in the online gaming market.
The market value of India in the gaming industry has been estimated to be around Rs 71 billion by 2021.
According to the All India gaming Federation, India currently has 120 million gamers and there has been more than a 30% jump in those numbers in the last three years.
“There is an urgent need to have government intervention in order to streamline the industry, preserve the integrity of sports and eliminate sports fraud,” said Roland Landers, CEO, AIGF.
As mobile phones are getting more and more affordable, mobile gaming in India is increasing exponentially. Computer and console games too are playing a huge role in the development of the industry. Tharoor raises an important point with his bill, as the online gaming sector in India is largely unorganized and therefore needs a regulatory mechanism in order for it curb immoral activities.
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