Oct 28, 2017

Legal experts, foreign regulators and gaming industry experts came together on 28th Oct for the first ever All India Gaming Summit 2017 where challenges and the way ahead for making gaming and betting legal in India were discussed. The event was organized by All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) in association with Legal League Consulting. The summit aimed to present a 360 degree perspective on the developments, the grey areas and their impending impact on the businesses while drawing parallels to some of the other leading economies with a thriving Gaming Industry.

The event saw eminent gaming experts and legal authorities which included Justice B S Chauhan – Chairperson of Law Commission of India, Justice Siddharth Mridul – Delhi High Court judge, K T S Tulsi parliamentarian and Senior Advocate – Supreme Court of India, SarikaBijen Patel – Commissioner of UK Gaming Commission, Phil Harisson – Regulator at Gaming Laboratories International (Australia), Amit Goenka -Promoter Essel Group and many more.

Justice Chauhan stated in his inaugural address that while there are serious challenges in legalising gaming and betting in India, if one cannot stop it, it needs to be regulated. “We are working on the task given to the Law Commission of India on whether gaming should be legalised. But there are complicated issues involved,” said Chauhan. He further said, the issues being addressed by experts of the industry would be of great help to the Law Commission in preparing the report.

Delhi High Court judge Justice Siddharth Mridul said that Chanankya in Arthashastra had suggested regulating gambling rather than abolish it or push it behind closed doors.”Alternative is of course what Chanakya suggested. It is for the Law Commission to recommend and the government to consider whether they are ought to be regulated or not,” Mridul said

Essel Group promoter Amit Goenka said that in some states lotteries and gambling is permitted but a complete framework is required to protect players in the game.

“Government should legalise betting and gambling and put measure in it to curb money laundering, illegal and terror funding through betting and eradicate corruption is another issue which is big agenda of current government. According to me betting market in India is more than the size of Rs 3 trillion as estimated by FICCI,” Goenka reiterated.

Sarika Patel, commissioner, Gambling Commission, the UK’s sector regulator
was quoted saying “In my opinion anyone who wants to bet will bet, irrespective of whether the system is legitimate or illegitimate. In the UK where sports betting are regulated, open and fair, we have the least amount of match-fixing issues. If betting is regulated, at least the players get protected. The operating companies, too, will have to work to protect their licenses. That is the difference between legalizing and regulating gambling.

Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) also announced the launch of E-sports vertical under AIGF.