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Gaming emerged as one of the top violative categories in terms of advertisement complaints received by the Advertising Standards Council Of India (ASCI), with fantasy gaming accounting for a significant chunk of complaints.

As per an ASCI report, the self-regulatory body “looked at” 383 gaming advertisements for April 2021-March 2022 period, a rise of 472% compared to previous year. 

It must be noted that ASCI’s guidelines for gaming came into effect from December 15, 2020.

Most violative claims in the gaming sector were related to leadership, guaranteed winnings, prize money assurance and safety, security and privacy claims. Besides, claims around consumer trust and comparative claims such as ‘win better’, ‘Xtimes more winnings’ were also seen in the segment.

While ASCI took action for 369 gaming advertisements, 359 advertisements required modifications. Fantasy football app Twelfth Man by NxGn Sports Interactive alone accounted for 63 advertisements, followed by another fantasy sports platform Khelo Fantasy by Gig Work Private Limited that accounted for 60 advertisements. 

Besides, renowned gaming startups such as Dream11, Games 24/7, MPL, My11 Circle, MPL, Winzo were also named for such complaints.

Of all these advertisements, 8 featuring celebrities were found to be misleading and 22 advertisements had influencer disclosure violations. 

The report comes at a time when online gaming startups have been increasing marketing spend for multimedia campaigns and brand endorsements.

Overall, ASCI processed 5,532 advertisements during April 2021-March 2022, with online gaming advertisements accounting for 8%. 

The online gaming segment in India grew 28% in 2021 to reach INR 101 Bn, with real-money accounting for more than 70% of segment revenues, according to a FICCI-EY report. Moreover, the number of online gamers grew 8% from 360 Mn in 2020 to 390 Mn in 2021. The segment is expected to reach 500 Mn gamers by 2025, the report added.

The online gaming sector may also see a levy of 28% goods and services tax (GST). The current rate of GST on the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of online skill gaming industry is 18%, whereas it is nil on contest entry fee (CEF). Industry bodies such as IAMAI and industry stakeholders have urged the government to maintain the 18% rate for the growth of the sector.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) formed by the Ministry of Finance to review the GST slab is likely to submit its final report next month. The GST Council had deferred the decision last month on imposing 28% GST on online gaming. However, the GoM is unlikely to tweak its recommendations, as per reports.