Regulating online betting will create jobs: Japneet Singh Sethi
India doesn’t have a law that prohibits online betting.
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India’s online betting industry is witnessing a steady rise and there are several factors responsible for this. We caught up with industry veteran Japneet Singh Sethi to understand the potential India’s online betting industry holds and why regulating it would be a good idea.
In India, betting is a state subject. There’s no law as such prohibiting ‘online betting’. In the light of this, do you think regulating the online betting industry will be a good move? How will it benefit the economy?
I would say so, yes. Regulating the online betting industry has largely been an “off the beaten path” idea; however, it is needless to say that such a move will not only bring employment and revenues to the fore but also represent a revolutionary step that I’m sure the current government will exhibit plenty of interest in. After all, they are not afraid of taking unprecedented measures that are in national interests. All in all, given the way the industry is shaping up combined with the burgeoning interest and, of course, the mindset of the nation’s regime, I believe there are sunny days ahead for the online betting industry, or as I like to call it: The Real Money Gaming industry.
Given that most people are homebound this year owing to the pandemic, how did this impact the online betting and gaming industry?
That the Real Money Gaming (RMG) category has experienced a significant boom would not be an overstatement. Why I say that is because the industry has really been catapulted out of its usual territory into a region wherein we are looking at remarkable numbers, as I’m sure you must know of - thanks to the coverage the industry has been receiving by a number of leading Indian media outlets. I have to say, the phrase “Crisis is an opportunity” gets thrown around a lot these days, but the RMG industry is among the few who have successfully given a demonstration of that.
More and more Indians now have access to mobile phones and internet. How does this bode for the growth of online betting platforms?
More than 700 million people will have access to a smartphone by 2021. That is an astonishing fact and it very well reflects the flood of opportunities that the RMG industry could benefit from. There will be more exposure, more discoverability and, more importantly, more awareness among people about the true essence of Real Money Gaming. Look, we are living in an India that’s very dynamic and progressive. The youth is especially smart in all descriptions and therefore can and will sense - if not already - the potential there is in RMG. That can only mean one thing for existing platforms: an upward curve.
Does this industry have the ability to generate employment opportunities?
This is a no-brainer, really. If you take the example of even a single country that has legalised online gambling and betting, you would be left apoplectic by the the scale of the industry there and the associated employment. I have no doubts whatsoever when I say that regulating the online betting industry in India will, directly and indirectly, create at least 500,000+ jobs. That’s not a small number.
How does the future of online betting and gaming look like in India?
I’d be repeating what I have said previously: I see sunny days ahead. This big ship we’re in is impossible to be overlooked, such is the sheen of the gold that it’s carrying. That’s all.
Japneet Singh Sethi is currently spearheading the marketing efforts of Parimatch International and is at the forefront of their India project - Parimatch News.