India faces first legal challenge against online money games ban

An Indian gaming company has challenged the government’s ban on online money-based games, a legal filing shows, in the first case against a law that led to the sudden shutdown of popular contests and has thrown the industry’s future into doubt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government issued a law last week to ban such games, which the industry says rely on skill and are therefore not gambling. 
Gambling was already highly restricted in India.

The legislation is a setback for an industry backed by venture capital firms, and that was on track to be worth $3.6 billion in India by 2029, according to industry estimates.

In a court filing at the High Court of Karnataka in southwestern India, a company which offers rummy and poker games, said the law “criminalises the legitimate business of playing online games of skill, which would result in the closure of various gaming companies overnight”.

The new law is a “product of state paternalism”, the company added in its filing, asking it to be declared unconstitutional when applied to games of skill such as rummy and poker.

The filing, dated August 28, is not public but was reviewed by Reuters. India’s IT ministry did not immediately respond to queries.

The company which field the case describes itself as an online gaming platform with more than 70 million players.

Endorsements by leading Indian cricketers and other marketing efforts have boosted the appeal of apps, where virtual cricket teams are created based on real players, earning points on runs, wickets and catches.

Both apps have discontinued their money games after the ban.

Modi’s government has repeatedly expressed its unhappiness over money-based games, saying they cause addiction.

In announcing the law last week, it said it had a duty to act against “social evils”. 

Source: Reuters

- Agencies