Budget 2022-23 Expectations: Online gaming sector demands progressive policy and lower tax slab

New Delhi: It is no surprise that India today has a large and rapidly growing gaming market. The gaming industry is witnessing unprecedented growth as the market is estimated to reach $3.9 billion by 2025. Online gaming has been gathering a lot of popularity, especially skill games and fantasy sports.

The recent trend witnessed is a steadfast increase in skill games across the country due to better accessibility to smartphones and cheap data prices which in turn is helping the sector gain broader reach across the country, thereby spurring its growth. 

In the Union budget of 2022, the sector has huge expectations from the government.

Bhavin Pandya, co-founder & co-CEO, Games24x7 said, “Online gaming is a sunrise sector with immense investment, employment, and revenue potential. The rise of the gaming sector also benefits the growth of other sectors that are the focus of the government including semiconductor, fintech, telecom and IoT. Gaming has the potential to transform the way new India is learning. Gamification is increasingly used to improve education, training, and skill development. Established players in the online gaming sphere have the wherewithal to support a variety of professions from budding entrepreneurs to established technologists and data scientists which will further accelerate growth and make India an exporter of gaming content and IPs.The sector eagerly awaits progressive policy structure from the government as well as fair treatment from the GST council. With proper support, the online gaming sector can give a big impetus to the government's drive to create a $1 trillion digital economy.”

Sai Srinivas, co-founder and CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL), said, “As we look ahead, we hope the Government of India will introduce measures to adequately support this next phase of growth. Online skill gaming companies, which have flourished amid phenomenal investor interest, are well-placed to create jobs in roles ranging from VFX designing to software development. The Budget should consider levying a lower tax slab than the existing 18% to aid this. With esports a medal event at the Asian Games, and continuing to gain prominence, this will also help incentivise a greater number of professionals to get into esports and represent the country at global tournaments of this stature.”

“The industry will also benefit from a fund that can provide capital to talented developers and designers, putting India on the path to becoming the hub for game development globally. Access to infrastructure will be crucial in this regard. This can be achieved by establishing specialised AVGC Centres and Universities for talented designers, visual artists, and developers who may have the capabilities but not the resources to build world-class games. Lastly, we hope that this year will bring more clarity from a regulatory standpoint. Online skill gaming suffers from a lack of differentiation from prohibited categories and games of chance. A uniform policy will be welcome and provide much-needed stability to the sunrise sector,” he added.