WinZO Moves Delhi HC To Be Listed On Play Store As Game Of Skill

Online gaming startup WinZO has approached the Delhi High Court seeking to be listed on the Google Play Store as a game of skill. The gaming startup was seeking a declaration that the games offered by it are games of skill and in compliance with the Indian laws.

The startup has also claimed in its plea that WinZO develops games of skill.

The declaration would entitle WinZO to seek availability of its platform on Google Play Store. A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula was hearing the lawsuit moved by WinZO on Monday.

“…in the absence of a specific order from the Hon’ble Court in the context of the games of skill hosted by the Plaintiff, Defendants are unfairly refusing to allow the Plaintiff’s application that hosts games of skill, to be listed / made available on Google Play, leading to impairment of Plaintiff’s ability to reach a major portion of its intended/ target audience,” WinZO said in its lawsuit.

Justice Narula also noted that the submission for lawsuit was filed on March 28, while the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified online gaming rules on April 6. “Counsel for the Plaintiff request for a short accommodation to take instructions,” he said.

WinZO in another petition challenged Google’s search engine disclaimer policy. An HC bench of justices Manmohan and Saurabh Banerjee told Google’s counsel to consider giving a milder warning to users while downloading WinZO from its search engine.

“In such a scenario, WinZO’s only way to get fair access to the market was to get a similar validation from a competent court for all its games such as chess, carrom, trivia etc,” Saumya Singh Rathore, cofounder of WinZO, said.

Founded by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh in 2018, WinZO is an online gaming startup that partners third-party developers to host games on its mobile-based application. It offers games in 12 languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and claims to have more than 100 Mn users.

The Gurugram-based startup has raised a total funding of $100 Mn across multiple rounds from investors such as California-based Griffin Gaming Partners, gaming funds like Maker’s Fund and Courtside, and Kalaari Capital.

Winzo’s net loss widened 2.3X to INR 120.59 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 51.36 Cr in the previous fiscal year on the back of a sharp rise in its advertising expenses.

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