Covid-19 triggers spike in regulation chatter

The spike in online gambling during the Covid-19 lockdowns has triggered greater chatter amongst politicians in India to regulate and tax online gambling, says igaming consultant Anutosh Chatterjee.

Speaking on a panel at SBC Barcelona Digital, Chatterjee he was pretty sure the pandemic had “ensured the eyeballs of the politicians,” on the sector.

However, he conceded there’s unlikely to be any movement in the short term and that from 2015 onwards was a more likely timeframe.

“In the meantime, it will be great and the market will keep growing,” he said, adding that the latest estimates for the size of the overall market in India run at about $100 billion. “It’s grey market and everyone is making money,” he adds, estimating that more than 100 offshore operators are targeting the country.

Speaking on the same panel, Andrea Bellezza, VP of EU and Asia Pacific markets at Kafe Rocks, pointed out that the player values in India are not as high as in some other top Asian markets, but the sheer volume of players compensate. He estimates player values in the low hundreds of euros per player compared with Japan, where the figure is EU500-600 and above.

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