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Probo, India's leading opinion trading platform, has reviewed the newly introduced Online Gaming Bill and acknowledges the government's objective to build a safer and more transparent digital ecosystem, a company release stated. While the intent to protect consumers and create regulatory clarity is a step in the right direction, the company expressed that a blanket ban on all real-money games (RMGs) could unintentionally limit the sector's potential and stifle innovation.
According to a company release, the tabling of the Bill marks a major step towards safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders, including consumers, employees, vendors, investors, and promoters. It paves the way for faster adoption of e-sports and online social games, facilitates the creation of a central regulatory authority, and ensures a level playing field while accelerating the segment's contributions to India's fast-growing digital economy. At the same time, Probo emphasized that a more balanced regulatory approach would better safeguard consumers, generate sustainable tax revenues, create jobs, and prevent the migration of users to unregulated platforms. Further, the company highlighted that opinion trading, globally known as information/prediction markets, is a reliable economic, information and forecasting tool, and goes beyond gaming. Anurag Dhandhi, Business Head at Probo stated, "In India, opinion trading has been characterised as a game. However, in the United States of America, it has been regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market - or in layman's terms - a financial market for information exchange and trading. At its very core, opinion trading (prediction markets) is a tool for economic insight, information aggregation, and forecasting that enables users to apply judgment, knowledge and analysis to real-world developments. By fostering informed and responsible participation, it goes beyond entertainment. It is a nascent-yet-thriving sector globally that contributes to improving financial literacy, data-driven decision-making and strengthening the larger digital economy. While we applaud the government's intent to introduce a progressive framework, we urge the government to build on this vision by explicitly recognizing opinion trading as a permissible skill-based activity and by adopting a differentiated regulatory approach instead of a blanket prohibition. This will strengthen user protection while ensuring that India fully captures the socio-economic benefits of this sunrise sector." The company further underlined the socio-economic value of prediction markets, noting its role in digital inclusion, employment, combating misinformation, democratisation of trading and innovation. It said that by formally recognizing this innovative format as a permissible business, India can unlock new opportunities in the digital economy while ensuring strong consumer safeguards. "As India shapes the future of its online gaming industry, we are committed to collaborating with regulators to establish opinion trading as a recognized, skill-based format. This clarity is paramount to safeguarding users, fostering responsible innovation, and unlocking substantial economic value--ultimately positioning India as a pioneer of a transformative, regulated technology sector on the global stage," added Dhandhi. According to company information, Probo is India's leading opinion trading platform that empowers individuals to express their data-backed insights on real-world events and earn rewards. Probo is backed by prominent investors - Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital), Elevation Capital and Fundamentum Partnership. (ANI)
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