New Delhi: Shri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary Industries & Commerce (I&C) Department & Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITE&C), Government of Telangana, said: “We are treading cautiously when it comes to gaming. Blanket banning is not a solution, one needs to have a distinction between games of skill and games of chance.”
“The pushbacks from law enforcement and other agencies are largely driven by games of chance. We cannot rule out that certain things can’t be manipulated, the need is to understand how we navigate the regulatory framework, we also need to dive deeper and find a middle path… We are taking certain steps in Telangana, but want to ensure that these are not challenged by courts or lead to public outcry,” he said while speaking at the inaugural address of India’s largest B2B gaming summit GATO’21, organized by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), in association with Games24x7.
Gopal Jain, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, today suggested that the gaming sector should not meet the fate of the telecom sector and so, gaming regulations should have sector-specific provisions, with complete clarity, giving stability to the business and avoiding any course correction like the retrospective tax case.
“Centrally, it would help if the Central Government recognizes certain games of skill and legislates over them. We can replicate some global models too where one needs to obtain a license to operate the games under specific conditions,” said Bhavin Pandya, Co-Founder, and CEO, Games24x7.
Smt. Tanushree DebBarma, IAS, Revenue Department, Government of Tripura; Akshat Rathee, MD, Nodwin Gaming; Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now, were among the key speakers. The event was supported by Invest India and NSDC.
GATO’21, with the theme –Digital Gaming: The Next Leap, was attended by over 800 business delegates and 100 brands. The conference curated discussions around the importance of a regulatory framework, ameliorate concerns regarding taxation, discourage online gambling and unlock the immense potential of the segment by boosting employment, encouraging innovation, and attracting more investment.
