The government may collect Rs 26,000 crore as taxes over five years from the online gaming industry. Around Rs 11,300 crore is expected in corporate taxes and TDS from FY23 to FY27.

The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) expects the industry to continue to grow despite ambiguities over online games of skill and online games of chance.

“In terms of numbers, we are still far behind globally. There is a lot of growth opportunity given our population and in terms of ticket size. Now with the laws getting clearer and the nodal ministry being identified, these could be much larger,” said Joy Bhattacharjya, director-general of the FIFS.

“We have been working with the government in setting up the self-regulatory body and identifying the kind of people who can run it. Their job is to protect not just companies but also the consumers.

“So, it is important for us to find the right kind of people. Most of the work we have been putting in the last couple of months has been just about finding the right kind of people and structure,” said Bhattacharjya.

Bhattacharjya identified two key challenges.

“State governments have different positions for a variety of reasons ranging from their need for revenue to their political position. A set of universally applicable regulations will be beneficial," he said.

“Another challenge is the need for a clear difference between games of skill and games of chance. The rules ensure that all our games are games of skill. We would like to have the government bring out a clearer definition of the difference between games of skill and games of chance.”