The 2024 General Elections in India took place over a period of 6 weeks across the country from 19th April to 1st June 2024, with the full results being announced on 4th June. General Elections are held in India every 5 years for currently a total of 543 seats.
This article briefly outlines who are key authorities and bodies who govern the Gaming Industry and how the elections results could impact the gaming industry going forward:
KEY AUTHORITIES AND BODIES
1. Ruling party
2. Finance Minister
3. Law Minister
4. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology-(MeitY)
5. Group of Ministers (GoM) Council for GST
6. State governments
1. Ruling party
· The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was standing for its 3rd consecutive term as it has been in power since 2014 under the leadership of Narendra Modi who has led the party since 2013
· The BJP has come back to power be it now leading a coalition whereas in their previous term they had an absolute majority. However, they still are the dominant force in the coalition and have retained the main portfolios in the government
2. Finance Minster
There is no change in the Finance Minister and the key decision makers within the Ministry
3. Law Minster
There is no change in the Law Minister and the key decision makers within the Ministry
4. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology- (MeitY)
· This is the department which was given charge of implementing regulations for the online gaming industry.
· The Minister in charge pre-elections was Rajeev Chandrashekhar who lost his seat in the elections and has now been replaced by Ashwini Vaishnaw.
· Both of these gentlemen are from the BJP and the former minister was a strong supporter of the gaming industry and was positively moving towards improved regulation for the sector.
· We are yet to hear formally from the new Minister but given the momentum which had been created by the Ministry it appears unlikely that there will be shift negatively for the industry and the support of MeitY will hopefully continue for the sector
5. Group of Ministers (GoM) Council for Goods and Service Tax (GST)
· This GoM is a selected group of ministers from various states and parties who are responsible for policy on GST for all sectors in the country and meets periodically.
· This GoM has been a key body for the gaming industry and provides guidance for the tax rules to be implemented
· Since GST was implemented in 2017 the GoM has met 52 times up to the elections
· Post the elections the GoM has been reconstituted and has held 1 meeting post the elections in its 53rd Meeting. At this meeting gaming was not discussed and was not part of the agenda
6. State Governments
· Given that Gaming Law are governed both by the Central Public Gambling Act 1867 along with the states also allowed to make their own gaming laws, any changes in state power could have an impact for the gaming industry.
· There has been changes in power in certain states but currently it is too early to suggest that there could be changes in state laws which could have a material impact on the sector
WHAT ARE THE ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED FOR THE GAMING INDUSTRY
The key issues which have been and continue to impact the industry and are ever evolving in terms of regulations and policies are as follows:
1. GST law and the latest modifications as announced in August 2023 and the fallout from the same
2. Full development and implementation of the discussions on online gaming regulation
3. Implementation of Independent Self-Regulation Bodies (SRB) for the industry who will:
a. Uphold the regulation
b. Issue licenses
c. Govern all gaming companies
4. Full review of the Gambling and gaming laws and bring all under 1 umbrella with a “One Nation- One Gambling and Gaming Law” across all India rather than state wise variations
5. A healthy discussion on sports betting and its lacunas and the fact that Horse Racing is the only sport under which an individual can legally bet .
6. Full clarity on Foreign Direct Investment rules and regulations both for B2B and B2C gaming companies
7. Ongoing development on KYC norms
8. Relevant Learning from International norms
9. Data Privacy norms for gaming
10. Player Protection Policy
