Budget 2023: Online gaming unicorn Games24x7’s CFO roots for favourable policies & taxation ahead of the budget

This year has been a significant year for the Indian online gaming industry, Mumbai-based Games24X7’s Chief Financial Officer, Rahul Tewari said. He also stated that the online gaming industry has demonstrated potential to attract foreign and domestic investments, create employment and generate revenue for the exchequer. 
 
During the pandemic, this sector saw a massive boom. In fact Games24x7 became the third gaming start-up after Dream11 and Mobile Premier League to achieve a billion-dollar valuation in March 2022. The company raised $75 million at a $2.5 billion valuation in a funding round led by Malabar Investments. 
 
While COVID-19 gave the industry an impetus to grow, the challenge now is to sustain the growth numbers, according to experts. In addition, one of the biggest hiccups that beset businesses in this sector with over 450 million users is the lack of regulation, especially for real money gaming because there are concerns that it might lead to problems like addiction and border on gambling. 
 
Tewari believes that continued focus on developing this industry along with a policy and regulatory framework can provide this ‘sunrise’ sector a much-needed push. 
 
“At this critical juncture in the growth of the industry, we eagerly look forward to favourable economic policies and consistency in taxation from the upcoming budget, which will allow the industry to sustain itself while comprehensive regulatory policy frameworks are put in place,” he said.
 
Tewari also noted that the government has taken steps to support this sector. Some of them include formation of the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Task Force under MeitY, to the appointment of MeitY as the nodal ministry for online gaming and the publishing of the draft rules for online gaming which focus on developing regulatory frameworks specific to the gaming industry. 
 
He concluded by saying that the whole industry is committed towards working alongside the government to provide a progressive business environment to this industry and its players. 
 
“With global attention towards gaming, the Indian gaming industry can provide opportunities to harness domestic talent, support allied industries and export Indian-made IPs in the global gaming environment, contributing significantly to India’s potential of becoming the world’s third largest economy by 2030,” he said.

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