MPL said it will be “downsizing its India team significantly” due to the iGaming ban.
India-facing online gaming and esports operator Mobile Premier League (MPL) is to cut approximately 60% of its total workforce following the national government’s decision to push ahead with a ban on iGaming.
The government introduced a bill in August to shut down the country’s multibillion-dollar online gambling industry. This was then passed by the upper house of the Indian parliament and received presidential assent on 22 August.
The ban covers games “played by a user paying fees, depositing money or other stakes” for monetary gain.
There has already been an impact on the market as Flutter closed its Junglee real-money gaming operations in India on 25 August.
MPL has also taken a hit – its MPL.live site has ceased operations and today displays a banner that reads: “Deposits are no longer available on the MPL app. In compliance with law, no cash games are available on MPL.”
As a result internal staff last week received an email detailing plans to reduce staff headcount.
In the email, obtained by Reuters, MPL CEO Sai Srinivas said the operator would be “downsizing its India team significantly”.
Srinivas did not say specifically how many jobs or positions would be cut. However, Reuters quoted a source at MPL that said 300 of its 500-strong team in India could go. The same source added that staff working across marketing, finance, operations, engineering and legal could also be impacted.
“It is with a heavy heart we have decided we will be downsizing our India team significantly,” Srinivas said. “We are committed to providing those impacted with every possible support during this transition period.
“India accounted for 50% of M-League revenues. This change would mean that we would no longer be making any revenue from India in the near future.”
MPL does, however, have interests outside India. It has recently been seeking to grow its presence within the US market.
Concerns over India iGaming ban
Other operators have attempted to fight back against the sudden ban. Just days after the bill was introduced, India gaming company A23 launched a legal challenge over the plans.
In a court filing at the High Court of Karnataka in southwestern India, A23 said that the ban “criminalises the legitimate business of playing online games of skill, which would result in the closure of various gaming companies overnight”.
The new law is a “product of state paternalism”, A23 added in its filing. It also asked for it to be declared unconstitutional when applied to games of skill such as rummy and poker. A23 describes itself as an online gaming platform with over 70 million players.
Operators are not the only parties to have raised concerns over the sudden ban. Other critics say the ban is counterproductive and will grow the illegal underground market in India.
Gaming law firm Segev LLC wrote that the law, while “framed as a progressive step, in fact moves against the current global tide” of licensure and regulation, a model that includes responsible gaming initiatives and other consumer protections.
Meanwhile, a joint statement from trade bodies the All India Gaming Federation, the eGaming Federation and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports called the ban a potential “death knell” for the Indian gaming industry.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu is yet to sign off on the legislation. However, this has been assumed as he has already blessed the proposal.
