Sequoia Capital-funded Mobile Premier League (MPL) was among the first few gaming startups that began blocking access to users in the South Indian State of Karnataka on Wednesday following a ban on online gaming.
The law, which came into effect late on Tuesday, bans online games involving betting and wagering, and “any act or risking money, or otherwise on the unknown result of an event including on a game of skill”.
The latest ban has intensified concerns that growing State regulations could hit the nascent but booming gaming sector in India, where foreign investors have pumped in millions of dollars in recent months, Reuters reported from Bengaluru and New Delhi
On Wednesday morning, MPL’s gaming app showed messages to users in Karnataka that said: “Sorry! The law in your state does not permit you to play Fantasy sports”, “Fantasy games are locked” and “cash games are locked”.
The gaming app offers fantasy cricket and football games and allows real-money wagering on them.
Dream11, one of India’s most popular gaming apps backed by Tiger Global, was still operational, but Paytm First Games was not.
Dream11 declined to comment, while MPL and Paytm did not immediately respond.
Karnataka, home to some of the world’s biggest tech companies and India’s tech capital Bengaluru, is the latest Indian State that has banned such online games after Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu had also imposed such bans, but its bill was struck down by its high court.
An industry source had told Reuters earlier that these states were important for the gaming business and account for roughly 20 percent of the total business for companies.
Roland Landers, the chief executive of the All India Gaming Federation, said “the industry will challenge this in court and seek legal recourse”.
Meanwhile, recently the industry body IAMAI had criticized the Karnataka law stating the law to ban on online games was badly drafted and not progressive.
In a statement, IAMAI said the bill “appears to have been drafted without considering the various legal and constitutional positions by including a wide definition of ‘gaming’ in amendments” against various judgements of the Supreme Court and high courts.
“Legislative actions such as this, may create a cloud of confusion and create regulatory uncertainty, which may unintentionally result in investors recalibrating their investments in the state and many existing companies may consider shifting base from the state,” IAMAI had said in a statement.