The Karnataka government’s decision to boycott online gambling, which includes skill-based games, is a misfortune to the enormous expert players community in the state and would harm its standing as a startup center, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has said.

India is the fifth-biggest online gaming market universally, and skill-based gaming has brought about an expanding number of unicorns in the state, AIGF CEO Roland Landers said.

“The move by the Karnataka government in tabling the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Compliance Act, 2021, is exceptionally backward in nature, and an immense misfortune to the state’s standing of being a tech-hub and start-up capital,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Karnataka Assembly passed by voice vote a change to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, which tries to boycott online games that are “games of chance”. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, talking on the enactment, said the proposed law doesn’t forbid online games that rigorously agree with “games of skill” features.

“These players, who represent India in domestic and worldwide level competitions like the 2018 Asian Games and World Series of Poker, look to this universally accepted sector as a way to their livelihood, which has as of now saw an extreme effect because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said PK Misra, president – player’s association at AIGF. “I truly trust the state can survey this matter and to cling to a reasonable qualification among gambling and skill-based gaming.”

Mr. PK Misra said there has been supported for online skill-based gaming before. “Considering the help that the online skill-based gaming sector has gotten in past decisions by both the Supreme Court — under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, and different Karnataka High Court judgments, the move by the Karnataka government in tabling the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Compliance Act, 2021 comes as a real difficulty to the large expert player’s community that dwells in the state,” he added.

AIGF said skill-based gaming couldn’t measure up to gambling and prohibiting isn’t an answer. The sector needs the help of state governments to promote drives towards responsible gaming. The sector has been a solid monetary supporter of the Indian economy and is relied upon to create incomes of more than $3 billion by 2025, Landers said.

AIGF’s key target is to guarantee worldwide best procedures across the online skill gaming environment through viable self-guideline for members and other stakeholders, including responsible gaming and player assurance. Its members follow a self-guideline sanction dependent on the principles of transparency, respectability, and responsible gaming and are pointed towards the reason for self-regulating all games of skill played online in pay-to-play formats.

Credits: The Economic Times