The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents eight crore traders and over 40,000 trade associations, has stated that the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to prohibit online gaming, will harm the Indian start-up sector, the gaming and animation industry, and millions of Indian gamers and e-sports players.
Indian start-ups like as Dream11, Nazara, MPL, Games 24*7, and Paytm First Games may be impacted by the proposed ban on online gambling. India boasts 623 gaming start-ups, according to the analytics platform Tracxn.
“Unfortunately, the Karnataka Bill does not distinguish between a game of skill and a game of chance,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. A game of chance is nothing more than pure gambling, and it should be outlawed. However, by incorporating skill games in the Bill’s scope, the proposal not only goes against accepted law, but also jeopardizes India’s booming gaming start-up sector.”
The trade group called for a “strong and robust regulatory system for online skill games,” and asked the Karnataka government to evaluate the law with Indian firms and developers in mind.
According to CAIT, the bill will encourage illicit offshore gaming and betting applications in the grey market. Thousands of common Indians have lost their life savings to these illegal casino apps.
Dream 11 Faces the Heat
A lawsuit has been filed against Dream 11, an online fantasy sports platform in Bengaluru, only days after the Karnataka government proposed modifications to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, which seek to outlaw online gaming and limit online gambling. This is most likely the first lawsuit to be filed after the legislation was changed to prohibit internet gaming.
Manjunath, a cab driver from Bengaluru’s Nagarbhavi neighborhood, filed a complaint against Dream Sports’ proprietors on October 7.
Manjunath said in his complaint that he read about the revised Karnataka Police Act, 1963 in media and checked the Google Play Store to see how many online games had ceased to function. Surprisingly, many firms, with the exception of Dream 11, have prohibited their mobile applications connected to online wagering and skill games where public money may be risked.
