WinZo seeks injunction against Google Play Store pilot allowing fantasy, rummy apps

Play to win, real-money skill gaming platform, WinZo, on Tuesday filed for an injunction at the Delhi High Court, against Big Tech firm Google’s recently announced pilot programme for daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy apps on the Google Play Store. The court filing by WinZo claims that Google’s decision to select DFS and rummy apps in its pilot program is “discriminatory” and an “arbitrary classification”.

WinZo’s move comes two weeks after Google, on September 7, announced a “limited time pilot program” that would allow DFS and rummy apps to be distributed through the official Play Store in India. The program leaves out 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. It 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 on September 7.

To be sure, the September 7 policy is a pilot programme, which will run for one year and is subject to change based on feedback from industry and users. That said, players like Winzo worry that in this time, companies allowed on the Play Store will market themselves as ‘legal’ apps, and in doing so cast aspersions on other platforms.

Talking about the legality of these apps, Jay Sayta, a technology lawyer who specializes in gaming, said that most regulations in this space depend on state-wise laws, and depend on whether a game is perceived to be a game of skill, or chance. "If a service is deemed to be a game of skill, there is no restriction on playing it with real money — and no discrimination of titles," he said.

Sayta added that while the central government has also held preliminary discussions on regulating this sector, such discussions remain at an early stage at the moment.

The company also stated in its court filing that selectively choosing the games in question may show others, such as WinZo itself, illegitimate titles — and thus be detrimental towards its business model.

It added that while industry bodies such as E-Gaming Federation and Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) have spoken in favour of Google’s new policy, the latter seeks to keep real-money gaming services out of the fray — which therefore may set a wrong precedent going forward.

In a statement, Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder of WinZo, said that there has been “no engagement with the industry”, and “no evaluation of the impact” of this pilot program from Google’s end. Google did not comment on this story.

It has also alleged that apps that will get to publish on the Play Store will be able to significantly reduce their marketing costs, while reaching the massive Android user base in India. For reference, Android runs on over 95% of all smartphones in the country.

While a section of the industry does side with Winzo in this case, the company may also be fighting an uphill battle against Google in the matter. A lawyer with knowledge of proceedings said that while there is no precedent, either global or in India, with regards to the treatment of fantasy and real-money games on Android. “Google’s pilot program may not be treated as a beta trial of a software since this may lend a negative market reputation to the apps that have been left out of the trial policy,” the lawyer said.