Blanket ban on online real money gaming will kill jobs: Kharge

Says prohibition is not the solution.
Blanket ban on online real money gaming will kill jobs: Kharge

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Karnataka IT and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday criticised the Centre's decision to impose a blanket ban on online real money gaming (RMG), calling it "another masterstroke by Modi Sarkar in bad policy making."

"India earns Rs 20,000 crore annually from GST and income tax via online RMG. The ban means states lose this revenue stream," he said in a post on 'X'.

The minister noted that over 2,000 gaming startups and more than two lakh jobs in IT, AI and design would be at risk.

He added that Rs 23,000 crore of foreign direct investment in the last five years could dry up and about Rs 7,000 crore spent annually on ads, data centres, sponsorships and cyber security would vanish overnight.

Warning of unintended consequences, the minister said, "Bans don't stop addiction or suicides. Instead, they push users to unregulated offshore platforms worth Rs 8.2 lakh crore annually where government has no control at all.

He said prohibition is not the solution and called for regulating skill-based platforms, enforcing IT Rules, 2021, and whitelisting legitimate operators.

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