Gaming CEOs (chief executive officers) expressed their concerns over the 30 per cent tax imposed by Google on gaming apps at a panel discussion held at Consilience 2023, organised by the Law and Technology Society (L-Tech) at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in partnership with All India Game Developers’ Forum (AIGDF).

Manish Agarwal, the co-founder of IndiGG, called the 30 per cent tax on gaming apps unfair. “The 30 per cent jagirdari tax is extortion and I believe in India we should not allow anybody to do this, especially when you’re not an Indian company,” he said.

Agarwal pointed out that in a country like India, the focus needs to be to increase its propensity to pay and reduce friction in spending among consumers. Adding an extra 30 per cent tax on top of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a significant expense for consumers, which he believes is unproductive from a gamer's perspective.

 "When app stores and play stores were launched, the 30 per cent fee was revolutionary compared to the 70 per cent charged by OEMs or Telcos for game developers. At that time, it was a very good idea, but as the industry and business models have evolved, there needs to be a relook at the rates,” observed Anuj Tandon, CEO (chief executive officer) Gaming at JetSynthesys.

Consilience 2023 marked the first conference to be held in the wake of the notification of the new online gaming rules by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The conference shed light on the legal and regulatory requirements that must be met, growth strategies to be adopted, and policy needs for the industry to reach its full potential.

The conference explored topics such as online gaming regulations, taxation of gaming and new business opportunities that gaming companies can leverage. Speakers included Akshat Rathee - co-founder of Nodwin Gaming, Anupriya Sinha Das - Head of Corporate Development at Nazara, Rachit Rastogi - COO (chief operating officer) at Good Game Exchange (GGX), Joyjyoti Misra, group general counsel at Gameskraft, Ritika Chatterjee - General Counsel, Mayhem Studios, and Arun Prabhu - Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. 
 
"Consilience has always been a syncretic conference bringing together different perspectives on law and technology. This year, we are proud to host it with AIGDF and bring in the perspective of business into the intersection of Law and Technology," said Shikhar Sharma, Convenor of the Law and Technology Society 2022-23.