Shashi Tharoor moves Sports Bill to regulate online gaming and prevention of fraud

The likes of PUBG , PUBG Mobile , DOTA 2 and more could soon be regulated in India. Indian politician, Shashi Tharoor who is currently serving as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, moved a private bill – the Sports (Online Gaming and Prevention of Fraud) Bill – to regulate the online gaming industry in India. According to a report by The Economic Times, Tharoor moved the sports bill seeking a regulatory mechanism for the online gaming sector in the country which is largely unorganised. The industry has seen the entry of many new players in the last two years. [caption id=“attachment_5905421” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Image: PTI[/caption] Tharoor said, “The main purpose of my bill is to preserve the integrity of sports. The bill is primarily divided into two parts for this purpose. One part recognises the offence of sports fraud and prescribes a special procedure to deal with it. The other part acknowledges the fact that the increasing commercial nature of sports increases financial incentives for vested interests to manipulate sporting events, therefore it provides for the regulation of online sports betting activities.” It is clear that the bill is largely concerned with the presence of gambling in online games. The  market value of the gaming industry  in India is estimated to be around Rs 71 billion in 2021. Mobile gaming in India is growing at a rapid rate due to the affordability of smartphones. Computer and Console gaming play a huge role in the growth of the industry too. There sure is a lack of regulations and the bill could possibly organise the sector, which is growing like never before.