Time to salvage

While some youth are committing suicide under the burden of a debt trap or are getting involved in crime, online gaming platforms are raking a moolah. These platforms also add revenue to national and some state exchequers. But the burning problem — arising out of the lacunae in the existing legal framework of the country — is that online gaming platforms are leading gamers into the trap of 'gambling', terming it a 'skill game'.

Online gaming is like video games that are played via the use of the internet on a pan-India basis while their regulation is carried out under various state rules. The fundamental distinction between gambling and gaming is that gaming is skill-based whereas gambling is chance-based. The grey areas in the law are helping gaming companies to take advantage of the situation and become a part of the legalised sector.

Akansha Singh, Assistant Lecturer, Gautam Buddha University, informs, "The British enacted the Public Gaming Act (PGA) in the year 1857, which banned gambling for the first time in the country. The Supreme Court of India has pronounced a few judgments, and the Act was also amended where the games of skill like horse racing or games of chance, except lotteries, were made permissible. Further, gambling is a state subject and, in India, few states have their own regulations. Perse, betting, maybe an offence in one state while being permissible in another. Some of the states that have adopted the PGA include Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, among others."

Srikant Pal, a final year law student and an avid skill gamer, says, "Online gaming apps have taken India by storm. Presently, millions of Indians are hooked on online gaming and a few fall under the trap of gambling by placing bets, the same being illegal in India. As per the current law, gambling is illegal in India, except where skills are required; gambling which is taking place under the garb of skill, e-sports or gaming via apps is illegal.

Online fantasy sports, played via apps, have the largest user base in the USA, and India also hovers around the same numbers. The number of users has skyrocketed enormously during the last three waves of the pandemic. Gaurav Kumar, a consultant in a leading consultancy firm, avers, "Figures may vary as there is no certain way to ascertain the growth and revenue in numbers but, as per rough estimates, the industry may generate: around 1.5 billion transactions by 2023, additional 12,000 jobs, GST revenue up to Rs 5,000 crore, taxes up to Rs 8,000 crores and FDIs. Online gaming being the sunshine industry for India, the government should plug the loopholes in the existing rules and laws governing it."

Further, informs Singh, "Online betting violates Article 21 of the Indian Constitution as it infringes upon the right to life. A PIL (public interest litigation) was also filed before a Madras High Court Bench at Madurai. The Lordship stressed the need to regulate online games in the country and linked it with the unemployed youth who may indulge in criminal activities to recover the losses incurred on 'online betting' via apps."

This year in February, the Karnataka High Court, while hearing on the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act 2021, through which online games were banned, has struck it down — providing a big relief for fantasy sports and skill-gaming industry, more so when the Indian Premier League is taking place in the country after a gap of two years.

Some time back, one of the Union ministers addressed the Parliament that there is a need for a Central regulatory framework for online gaming. The NITI Aayog also released a communiqué received from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) — the 'Draft Guiding Principles for the Uniform National-level Regulation of Online Fantasy Sports Platforms in India'. NITI Aayog, for the evolution of the industry, has prepared a discussion paper pertaining to the many guardrails around it.

Furthermore, Pal says, "Some of the betting apps, also endorsed by Indian celebrities, are like payment apps, promoting gambling on account of the lacunae present in the law that says 'online gambling' is lawful. However, the PGA grants exemptions under Section 12 to some of the games that exhibit the use of 'skill', and 'chance' is not the only determinant in the outcome of the game."

From around 20 names listed on the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), and from clippings of various media coverage on their website, it may be deciphered that the grey areas in the law are penalising those gaming websites that are involved in genuine business practices. If there is some ambiguity in the law, the same can be modified with the participation of all the stakeholders, but genuine gaming websites should not be equated with illegal online gambling or betting platforms.

Ankit Mittal, an entrepreneur, proffers, "With the influx of cheap smartphones, improved internet connectivity and the country having around 60 per cent of its population below the age of 35 years, India is almost the largest market for online gaming. In light of a couple of judgments of the Supreme Court, gaming platforms have been exploiting the law. A balance has to be maintained between the functioning of the gaming websites under the legal framework and the people gambling or being on these websites for creating wealth for the country."

Justice (retired) Lok Pal Singh, High Court of Nanital, elucidates, "Unless checks and loopholes are fixed in the prevailing laws, internet gambling, in actual sense, will remain a borderless activity and thrive as an underground economy, which may also lead to terrorism and money laundering. It is like opening casinos in each home and every bedroom, on every iPhone, or every laptop. These sites, if left unchecked, will result in increasing gambling addiction as well as social problems. Maintaining accountability in society is of paramount importance. A framework is essentially required where the governments could increase their revenues and the gamers can enjoy the games."

The writer is an accredited freelance journalist. Views expressed are personal