What is fantasy sports? Is it a legal form of entertainment

Fantasy sports are allowed all over India. Assam, Odisha, and Telangana are not allowing them. There is no legal definition for these fantasy games. The courts in India will look them at an angle whether they are Games of Skill or Games of chance. Games of chance will come under gambling and may not allow them. The game format of Dream11 is looked by the Indian Court and considered it a Game of Skill and allowed it. No other game has come to the notice of the courts, I understand.
There is Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports in our country. There is no any other government institute to monitor these games. So this federation only will be regulating these gamers in India with their own rules and regulations.
As per The Public Gambling Act, 1867, any game which requires skill for the player to play the game will not come under the purview of gambling activities and they are allowed. SO earning money in these games will not be treated as gambling or betting and you can earn from these games. You have to earn by playing these games. You have to pay 18% GST for the income as this will come under business.

Fantasy sports or fantasy gaming platforms are a very unique idea in which the participants can guess the performance of their team XI and when in the real life match they perform as per the guess then the participants earns points. In some platform the participant gives some money with the predictions and if that comes true he collects more money back. But that is perceived as gambling and there have been some court rulings like that. At the same time some court rulings favour these fantasy games telling that they are a game of skills and do not fall under the gambling category. This game could be cricket or football or volleyball whatever is liked by the participant who is generally a fan of that game and has knowledge about the players participating and their capabilities based on the historical data. IPL was the main attraction for these game companies and due to the delay in it there is some setback.

These companies have already formed in the year 2017, a self regulating body called Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), to protect consumer interest and create best practices in the fantasy gaming industry. They had hired the consultant KPMG (a private reputed financial auditing company), which had predicted a growth of more than Rs 1,500 crores in one year. Right now Govt has no direct control on these gaming platforms except that if they do some gambling or related activities in online then Govt could nab them on that charge and close their operations and punish them. So, right now this is a big grey area.

Though in India IPL is the most followed activity as per the fan following but there are many other leagues in the world which are giving these gaming platforms to align themselves with these games or sports and then attract the fans or users for predictions or put some money on the prediction. Currently there are many other leagues which are being monitored by these gaming platforms for participation of the fans in these predicting and subsequently scoring or earning opportunities. Some of these are -

1. In Volleyball - (a) Russia Ural League (b) Men's League, Thailand.
2. Football - (a) Belarus Premier League (b) Tajikistan Higher League (c) Burundi Premier League.
3. Table Tennis - (a) Moscow Liga Pro (b) Setka Cup, Serbia (c) Nicaragua Premier League.
4. Snooker - (a) Armenian Snooker Cup (b) Table Tennis (c) Moscow Liga Pro (d) Setka Cup, Serbia.

The modus operandi of these online companies is being seen with doubt and caution by the Govt agencies but until a firm decision by the High Courts of the country or Supreme Court is given it is not possible to take action against them or bring them under some regulatory body. So right now they are proliferating and though the present Covid-19 situation has put some break on their progress but there is a very big inherent potential for their growth.

The idea of the fantasy sports or games is definitely an interesting idea which can become easily popular in the fans of the game if it is linked to the happenings in the real life. So the gaming platforms which know this psychology of the fans has taken advantage of this and got certain games designed by the experts where one can guess the happenings in the game to be played next day or like that and if the guess or prediction becomes true then the fan or the user gets some marks or score for that which may or may not be connected to real money.

Now the owners of these game portals are arguing that the user has to guess or make a prediction based on his knowledge about the game and performance of the players in the earlier games. So every game has a history and seeing the historical data one can definitely make an intelligent guess. So for those who are participating in these fantasy games online it is a skill based game. There are some court verdicts where court also had agreed in some cases that it was true. But at the same time there are some fantasy games where the user is provoked to bet some money and is assured to get more if his prediction comes right and forfeits his money if he goes wrong. This type of thing is considered gambling by the authorities and would not be allowed to take place. So, until these ambiguities are sorted out people would go on playing them as per their inclination and interest.

Actually, online games are always an addictive lot and where they are connected to real games happening around, the charm is so much enhanced. These fantasy games have become popular worldwide and the software experts have created them for so many sports and gaming activities depending upon the interest of the fans in a particular country. There has always been a distance between the Govt governance and online activities as strict legislations are still in the way to be enacted fully. Till that time these sites would reap the benefits. However due to Covid-19 many sports and game activity are postponed or cancelled and these platforms are suffering and starving for activity because of that.