MUMBAI: With the Indian Premier League set to kick off on September 19, the fantasy sports business is expected to bounce back with millions of players all set to get to play on fantasy sports platforms.
As per a FICCI Frames report on M&E compiled by EY, there are 360 million online gamers in India. “In view of this trend, the importance for self-regulation for online skill gaming cannot be emphasized enough. Thus, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has reinforced its resolve towards responsible gaming with the AIGF skill games charter. It emphasizes on responsible gaming to build a robust self-regulatory community and facilitative ecosystem for the offer of online games of skill in a transparent and fair manner, with due regard for consumer and stakeholder interests,” said a release by AIGF.
In the release, Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation said: “Since its inception, one of the aims of AIGF has been centered around bringing recognition to the sunrise sector of online skill gaming. Having a robust self-regulation mechanism that would serve the needs of the sector by means of good governance is extremely vital.”
With the surge in the online skill gaming ecosystem, AIGF earlier this year strengthened its advisory board and onboarded eminent experts from diverse backgrounds like Justice Vikramajit Sen, a former Judge of the Supreme Court & former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Fatema Agarkar, leading educationist & Founder of the Agarkar Centre of Excellence (ACE) combining sports and education, India women’s cricket team pace ace Jhulan Goswami and Ishita Pateria, Counselling psychologist & psychotherapist to offer their expert guidance.
“It is heartening to see that millions of gamers are participating in online formats including fantasy cricket and that this ecosystem is growing rapidly. With IPL about to start, AIGF’s well-structured responsible Gaming Charter, we will put the right checks in place and treat it with the respect it deserves,” said Goswami in the release.
Justice Vikramajit Sen said: “As online skill gaming has grown by over 30% over last year, self-regulation for this ever-expanding Industry is extremely important. The AIGF Skill Games Charter provides the very foundation for responsible gaming, user integrity, player protection, and best practices for member operators to ensure ethical practices to safeguard consumer interest.”
According to the release, the AIGF charter was released in 2018 and is based on the foundations of integrity, legality, global best practices and good governance. The charter focuses entirely on player protection, responsible gaming including guidelines for advertising in this space. “Through the adoption of principles and the disciplinary process AIGF stakeholders in Fantasy sports namely Paytm First Games, Mobile Premier League(MPL), Nostragamus & Liverpool’s have pledged to adhere to and uphold the tenets of the AIGF Skill Game Charter which will benefit the millions of fantasy sports gamers that play on these platforms,” said Landers.
Dibyojyoti Mainak, VP Policy & Legal, MPL said: “As India’s leading mobile eSports brand, it gives us immense pleasure to be deeply associated with cricket in India. We will abide by the AIGF Skill Game Charter and best principles set by various industry bodies in this regard. MPL is committed to the pledge of responsible innovation, among others, in the eSports and fantasy space.”
Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games said: “Our platform has emerged as India’s go-to gaming app and has a growing user base of over 90 million. It is our responsibility to safeguard the interest of online gamers while providing them with an ethical and transparent ecosystem. We have joined hands with the AIGF and will ensure the adherence of fair self-regulation practices. Also, we will work together to promote online gaming in the country by engaging with new gaming-enthusiasts.”