A Recap of the Seminar Held in Mumbai on ‘The Recent Developments in the Skill Games Industry’

Poker in India
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  • PG News June 12, 2016
  • 2 Minutes Read

A seminar titled “Recent Developments in the Skill Games Industry” was organized in Mumbai on June 10, with a panel discussion on the legal, regulatory and taxation issues for poker players and operators to generate awareness about the potential and recent developments of skill games and how they are different from gambling.

The event began with organizers, represented by Kuntal Sampat, VP of Sachar Gaming Pvt. Ltd., which operates Khelplay.com, giving an introductory address and was followed by the expert speakers contributing to the discussion.

Jay Sayta, founder of gaming laws website Glaws.in was moderator of the seminar and started the discussion by remarking that as per Indian laws, games of skill like poker, rummy and fantasy sports enjoyed an exalted status in the country. He added that staking of money on games of skill like poker and rummy is understood to be completely legal and that this had triggered a dot com boom, with numerous online companies offering skill games, though the industry was still in a nascent stage.

Sayta further noted that the objective of the seminar was to create awareness about all the happenings around the skill games industry and significance of recent developments like the law passed by the Nagaland government and taxation, foreign exchange issues faced by players as well as potential and market size of the industry.

According to Amit Varma, Senior Journalist & Columnist, “Gambling is legal in Britain and also some parts of India. The complete legalization of poker can be responsible of economic development of the country.”

Echoing Sayta’s points, Gowree Gokhale, Senior Partner of leading law firm Nishith Desai Associates said, “In most states (except Assam and Odisha) games of skill is excluded from the ambit of gambling.”

She pointed out that, “Operators should carefully structure how to comply with law and either put a disclaimer to restrict players from Assam and Odisha or geo-block persons from these states.”

Adding to the discussion, Vidushpat Singhania, Partner Krida Legal stated, “The whole distinction between games of skill and chance is a British concept and the idea of skill gaming developed from that time.”

He then said, “Due to the advent of technology, since gambling and skill games are provided online, the question lies whether it will lie in the ambit of the state or the central government.”

Several other issues pertaining to taxation, foreign exchange, consumer protection and fairplay terms that affect skill games players and operators were also discussed by the panelists in the discussion.

The All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), a newly created not-for-profit society, remarked that, “The gaming sector has the potential to bring in massive employment and boost India’s gross domestic production and at the same time eliminate the organized crime, money –laundering and other associated problems plaguing the society.”

The AIGF was introduced at the event by Roland Landers, the former Chief Brand Officer of Zee Group, who with his vast experience of more than 23 years experience in the sports and entertainment sector will be heading the organization.

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