Winzo joins hands with IITs to develop model for determining games of skill

Winzo said that it started the study amid concerns about the independence of the proposed self-regulatory bodies in India's online gaming sector

Online gaming company Winzo on Monday announced that it has collaborated with several educational institutes, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Stanford University and California State University, to develop a model that can accurately differentiate between gaming activities requiring predominance of skill and those dependent on chance.

The IITs include IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras.

Last year in September, the Supreme Court ordered an interim stay on the Karnataka High Court ruling that online games like rummy are not taxable as "betting" and "gambling" under the Central Goods and Services (GST) Act, 2017 which now attracts 28 per cent tax.

Winzo said that the study started amid concerns about the independence of the proposed self-regulatory bodies (SRBs) in India's online gaming sector.

It said the collaboration has created statistical tests utilising real game data, user behaviour of over 100 million users across billions of gameplays, and other relevant factors to determine the prevalence of skill over chance in various games.

"This pioneering methodology is set to bring clarity to the distinction between skill and chance. The initiative also has the potential to reduce the compliance burden for the online gaming sector and resolve regulatory challenges in the era of innovative and evolving business models," it said.

"We worked with top statisticians and engineering departments globally to build and validate a method that can be used by any entrepreneur in partnership with these institutions now," said Paavan Nanda, co-founder at Winzo.

"By democratising assessment of games on skill, we aim to empower startups and lower their financial challenges - something we faced during our early years."

"The research is based on billions of game plays across millions of users. Nevertheless, the methodology is transferable and can be used even by early-stage companies," added Mike Orkin, professor emeritus at California State University.