India's planned regulation of online gaming will apply to all real-money games after the prime minister's office overruled a proposal to only regulate games of skill and leave out games of chance, according to a government document and three sources.
The much-awaited regulations are seen shaping the future of India's gaming sector that research firm Redseeer estimates will be worth $7 billion by 2026, dominated by real-money games. Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital have in recent years backed Indian startups Dream11 and Mobile Premier League, popular for fantasy cricket.
Differentiating games as skill or chance wasn't easy due to lack of legal clarity and contrasting court decisions, the minutes quoted the official as saying, adding "online gaming may be considered as one activity/service with no distinction." Modi's office and the IT ministry, which is drafting the rules, did not respond to a request for comment.
The drafting of the new regulations comes amid growing concerns that the proliferation of such games, particularly among young people, had led to addiction and financial losses, with some reported cases of suicide.
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