Niharika Singh

Creative. Traveller. Writer.

[Avadesh Singh @avi_avadesh]

BANNING VS REGULATING: The recently passed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 raises more issues than it addresses. Of the three segments identified in the Online Gaming Industry, one, namely, the real-money online gaming segment has come under a comprehensive, blanket ban, with no room for any exceptions whatsoever. The justification given for such a sweeping action is addiction (and related mental health & monetary issues), as well as money-laundering/ terror funding concerns. It is pertinent to point out here that there are a number of industries and commercial activities in the country that suffer with these very same malaises, prominent among them being the alcohol and tobacco industry, among others.

In a democratic country such as India, the underlying principle in ethical governance has always been to control and regulate, rather than ban completely, unless there is absolutely no doubt about the illegality involved (e.g. banning of an established terror outfit). Ostensibly, the real-money online gaming industry does not suffer from any such outright, water-tight unlawful taint, across the board and without exception! This industry has been the means of livelihood for more than two Lac Indians, thereby supporting their respective families. This hasty universal ban, without any option of appeal or exemption (normally provided in a democratic set-up) has put the lives of these Lacs of people and their families in jeopardy, with no hope in sight. It would not be surprising if some of these persons are forced to take extreme steps to tide over their sudden crises, which would be totally unfortunate and certainly not the objective behind the introduction of this Bill. The real-time online gaming ecosystem is a judicious and balanced combination of Skill with Chance, as is the case with a number of other gaming platforms. It would be entirely unfair to colour the entire industry with the same brush of social dysfunction and illicit financial transactions etc. An obvious course of action in this regard would have been to REGULATE the industry (through the formation of a regulatory body with clear-cut authority and unambiguous mandate) rather than inflict a complete BAN on the entire industry of many decades, without any recourse being available to it.

Two parallels can be drawn here to further illustrate the aforementioned argument. Firstly, the alcohol industry which is flourishing in majority of the states in the country has contours which are surprisingly similar to the real-money online gaming industry in question; both are addictive, both adversely affect one’s health, both cause huge personal financial losses, both result in significant revenue inflows to the Government and use of both involve statutory (consenting) adults, fully aware of what they are getting into. In the case of the alcohol business, the entire industry is effectively regulated through the issue of a number of term licences, such as brewery, distillery, winery, wholesale, retail, hotel/ restaurant, special event, and import/ export licences. These licences are majorly regulated by the state excise departments and are renewed after the stated term after due perusal and check of all required documents.

Yet another parallel is the issue of Indian construction contractors bidding for infrastructure projects in India along with a foreign company in a Joint Venture. Such an arrangement, while conducive to the development and growth of the local construction industry, harbours the risk of becoming victim to money laundering and funding terror activities surreptitiously. Accordingly, there is a formalised due process of getting the foreign company “vetted” and verified through a due diligence process by the Govt of India. This includes a thorough background check of the company, including evidence of its legal existence, through Indian embassies/ consulates, verification of documents via notarization/ apostille under the Hague Convention, blacklist/ sanction check (with the World Bank, ADB, CVC, RBI, MEA etc) and tax compliances such as PAN registration (for JV) and GST, if applicable. All these robust checks and balances ensure that there is due regulation of such commercial activities as per law, and permissions/ approvals are only granted after all the boxes have been ticked.

The illustrative examples ante could serve as a guide to the Way Forward for the present issue of controlling real-money online gaming, as follows:

· Setting up a suitable Regulatory Authority to review applications/ requests from entities/ companies/ platforms for accord of licence to undertake real-money online gaming;

· Creation of a web portal of the Regulatory Authority with instructions regarding the application procedure along with requisite forms, the procedure for grant of licence, status of licence application request, FAQs etc.

· The procedure for grant of licence (for a pre-specified period) can include, inter alia, submission of all requisite legal, commercial, financial, banking, corporate and KYC documents etc, as deemed fit to carry out a proper vetting before grant of the licence;

· If and as required, the Regulatory Authority can stipulate rules and regulations for game registrations and money transactions, along with limits etc, to ensure that the activity is undertaken by participants in a healthy, transparent and controlled manner.

With a view to implement the above-mentioned alternate, reasonable and democratic mechanism, the present Bill can be modified to set up the said Regulatory Authority along with its mandate and members etc. The broad objective of bringing the Bill can also be elaborated to showcase a balance between the ills and the human side of the industry. Once passed and gazetted as an Act, necessary Rules and Regulations can then be issued under this Act specifying the licence process, application forms, timelines, terms and conditions etc. These rules shall then be followed by the Regulatory Authority to streamline and watch over this creative and innovative industry in a more pragmatic and considered manner, while at the same time ensuring revenue streams to the Government as well.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@PrinceArihan @YouTube Doing what they do best. Ukraine, Bangladesh, Gaza, Pakistan, you name it - and we say history teaches us things.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@DhaniSriram @svembu Your AI is shit as it's comfortable in only one language. Which FYI is not true. You can absolutely change languages, the settings may not have the other languages but GenAI specifically is only researching websites and giving you summaries. It doesn't matter what language u use

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@DhaniSriram @svembu Isn't that what he is saying? Didn't we just launch an AI tool that's suited for all languages spoken in India? It's a tough road, but man this "English nahi aati toh kahin nahi pahuchoge" is a mindset we surely need to let go, FAST!
I guess we should be the first to say

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@Pawankhera Bhai you miss her, India ke naam pe kuch bhi mat boldo.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@_sameernigam Jobs are based on merit. Apply, why get reservations?

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@abhiandniyu I was thinking the same thing a few days ago. I think it's very important for UPA to strong arm their agenda as soon as possible. And showcase the current govt as not being able to get things done while advancing the caste and religious divide narrative. So, they have started

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@NalinisKitchen Don't be sorry. It's the truth.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@tamilravi So you're saying all upper caste people are economically weak?

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@VikasN1985 @rupamurthy1 I don't think anyone who, in the name of religion, would ask a person to change their religion can actually love another person (that doesn't belong to an Abrahamic mindset). True love goes beyond religion, however it's ironic it's the Abrahamic who say this while converting ...

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@darab_farooqui @Hebbal84 It's pretty convenient to say how it does matter to us. I mean, if that's the case, any religion and caste issue - how does that matter to us.

The current govt hadn't gotten one law that only benefits the "Sanghis" which is a term used as an insult for one section of society.

[THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13]

Kejriwal is speaking publicly about his case almost everyday, violating the bail terms set by the Supreme Court, and the Court is not bothered.

Milords, I understand you do not wish to cancel the bail, but at least ask him to write a 300-word essay on the benefits of alcohol.

[Rishi Bagree @rishibagree]

@PChidambaram_IN Your observation is as accurate as your previous observation on digital transactions in India

[Sai Deepak J @jsaideepak]

1. The number of people in TN who have been removed from voter lists or are being prevented from voting by DMK agents is staggering. How are such ppl being identified? "surnames" & localities are used to determine if they could vote for the BJP. That's Dravidianism for you.

[SubbuS @Subbu_06]

I'm a rational voter who reads and understands manifestos before voting.

I read the BJP manifesto and thought it does a good job of persuading people to vote for BJP.

Then I read the Congress manifesto and saw that it does a better job of persuading people to vote for BJP.

[Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval]

This need for the white man’s validation needs to stop. Americans don’t use a foreigner’s view of America to reinforce their arguments. Yet Indians (both left and right) trumpet every article/speech by any irrelevant white trash, to validate their point. Have some self respect.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

@championswimmer @EternalFool The fleet would be different, but doesn't mean the guy doing the deliveries was vegetarian.

[Niharika Singh @___blatherskite]

Just NO. This is fucking unreal.

[Deepinder Goyal @deepigoyal]

Update on our pure veg fleet —

While we are going to continue to have a fleet for vegetarians, we have decided to remove the on-ground segregation of this fleet on the ground using the colour green. All our riders — both our regular fleet, and our fleet for vegetarians, will wear the colour red.

This means that the fleet meant for vegetarian orders will not be identifiable on the ground (but will show on the app that your veg orders will be served by the veg only fleet).

This will ensure that our red uniform delivery partners are not incorrectly associated with non-veg food, and blocked by any RWAs or societies during any special days… our riders’ physical safety is of paramount importance to us.

We now realise that even some of our customers could get into trouble with their landlords, and that would not be a nice thing if that happened because of us.

Thanks everyone for talking about this last night. You made us understand the unintended consequences of this rollout. All the love, and all the brickbats were all so useful - and helped us get to this optimal point.

We are always listening, without unnecessary ego, or pride. We look forward to continue serving you.

[Deepinder Goyal @deepigoyal]

I have received an overwhelmingly positive response on this launch from so many people. A lot of comments from young people who eat non-veg food saying “now my parents can also use zomato”.

I would like to repeat that this feature strictly serves a dietary preference. And I know there are a lot of customers who would never order food from a restaurant which serves meat, irrespective of their religion/caste.

But why did we need to separate the fleets? Because despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes the food spills into the delivery boxes. In those cases, the smell of the previous order travels to the next order, and may lead to the next order smelling of the previous order. For this reason, we had to separate the fleet for veg orders.

Please note that participation in our Veg delivery fleet will not discriminate on the basis of our delivery partner’s dietary preferences.

There’s an opinion that some societies and RWAs will now not let our regular fleet in. We will stay alert for any such cases and work with these RWAs to not let this happen. We understand our social responsibility due to this change, and we will not back down from solving it when the need arises.

And I promise, that if we see any significant negative social repercussions of this change, we will roll it back in a heartbeat.

[Khalid Baig @KhalidBaig85]

Why is government of India oppressing India's 2nd largest community of 20 Crore Indian Muslims, by bringing in CAA, which addresses the sufferings of Hindus, Christians and Sikhs of Pakistan and Afghanistan?