BackWinZo files suit against Google
WinZo cites Google’s decision to select DFS and rummy apps in its pilot programme as discriminatory and an arbitrary classification.
PremiumWinZo, a real-money skill gaming platform, has sought an injunction against Google’s pilot programme for daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy apps on Google Play Store.
WinZo claimed in its lawsuit filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that Google’s decision to select DFS and rummy apps for the pilot programme is “discriminatory" and an “arbitrary classification".
Google on 7 September announced a “limited time pilot program" that would allow DFS and rummy apps to be distributed through Google Play store in India. The programme excludes real-money gaming apps like WinZo from distributing their services through the store.
DFS, or fantasy games, refer to titles where players choose a team of athletes to represent their own fictional team in any sport, such as cricket and football. These includes platforms like Dream11 and My11Circle. The performance of this ‘fantasy’ team depends on how the chosen athletes perform on any given day, and the correspondence of this real-life performance leads to virtual winnings for players of the platform. Rummy, on the other hand, refers to card games which are recognized as games of skill via various court orders. Indian law says betting on games of chance is illegal.
“A player must strategize, memorize the fall of cards, and arrange valid card sets and/or sequences by picking and discarding cards from a closed deck and an open deck, offered in either 10, 13, 21, or 27-card formats, and in accordance with the rules followed for the offline versions of the same formats conventionally played in India," Google said in its description of rummy games.
The 7 September announcement is for a pilot which will run for a year and is subject to changes, based on feedback. But platforms like WinZo worry that companies allowed on the Play Store will market themselves as ‘legal’ apps, and in doing so, cast aspersions on other platforms.
In a statement, Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder of WinZo, said there has been “no engagement with the industry", and “no evaluation of the impact" of this program by Google. Google did not comment on this story. Jay Sayta, a technology lawyer, said most regulations in this space depend on state-wise laws, and on whether a game is perceived to be a game of skill or chance.
shouvik.das@livemint.com
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