Indian online gaming sector faces threat from money laundering, reveals Digital India Foundation report
The Indian Real Money Gaming (RMG) sector has become a key player in the global market with a CAGR of 28% from FY20 to FY23 and its projected revenue is set to reach $7.5 billion within next five years.
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The Indian online gaming sector faces a significant threat from money laundering, necessitating urgent and definite steps to ensure its sustained success and also protect India’s digital economy, reveals ‘Combating Money Laundering in Online Gaming Ecosystem’ report by Digital India Foundation. As per the report, the Indian Real Money Gaming (RMG) sector has become a key player in the global market with a CAGR of 28% from FY20 to FY23 and its projected revenue is set to reach $7.5 billion within next five years.
The report also highlights that the essential measures needs to be taken for illegal operators and the creation of a whitelist of legal operators, combating misleading advertisements and incorporating principles of financial integrity and international cooperation among others.
Talking about the report, Arvind Gupta, Head and Co-Founder of Digital India Foundation, said, “It is critical to take urgent action against money laundering that is impacting this sunrise industry. Despite ongoing regulatory efforts to curb illegal operators, many platforms circumvent restrictions through mirror sites, illegal branding and disproportionate promises, highlighting the pressing need for stronger oversight and enforcement. With over 400 homegrown start-ups and 100 million daily online gamers, including 90 million who pay to play, the sector employs directly and indirectly approximately one lakh individuals, with the potential to create 250,000 jobs by 2025.”
According to the report, challenges such as issues of financial integrity, cybersecurity and user protection has the potential to impede progress. The severity of these challenges is underscored by the fact that the illegal betting market in India attracts over $100 billion in deposits annually.
Additionally, the report pointed out how the operators are using methods like sophisticated in-game currencies, exaggerated advertisements to attract and defraud users and cryptocurrencies to channelise money laundering through online gaming and has listed specific recommendations to curb them.
