68% citizens want the government to regulate fantasy sports sector in India: Reports

According to the latest report by LocalCircles, an online community platform, around 68% of citizens want the government to create a code of regulation for online fantasy sports (OFS) with a good 63% of citizens are not in favour of the government giving legal recognition and protection to online fantasy sports platforms.

The survey that was conducted by the community received over 50000 responses with 21,000 unique citizens located in 309 districts of India. Among the people voted, 47% respondents were from tier 1 districts, 29% from tier 2 districts and 24% were located in tier 3, 4, and rural districts of India.

As far as the gender demographic goes, 69% of respondents were men while 31% were women. It must be noted that approximately 12% citizens who voted are either playing online fantasy sports or have someone in the family playing it.

Even though courts in India have asked the online fantasy sports platforms to continue by siding with their logic of calling them skill gaming instead of gambling, Assam, Odisha, Telangana, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have banned fantasy sports altogether.

The voters also took objection to advertising and marketing promotions by these platforms during Indian Premier League (IPL) which attracts millions of viewers across age groups. 54% of citizens were clear in their stance that "should not be permitted to show advertisements at all", while 10% said "can't say".

"If the consumer is informed of the risks effectively via advertisements as well as while they are engaging on the platform, the responsibility of making an informed choice then lies with the consumer. While such an approach may impact growth in the immediate term for the platforms, it is likely to provide responsible long-term growth and will change the discussion with state administrators from ban/no ban to how to operate with increased responsibly and let the consumer make the choice," said Sachin Taparia, managing director of LocalCircles.

According to a recent turn of events, NITI Aayog has issued guidelines to regulate the OFS sector, which stood at ₹2,400 crores in FY20, through a self-regulatory body. They are also planning to bring in a framework of possible rules and standards for the sector.