40% Apps Improve Compliance Rank, 55% Improve Score, 4% Get > 50%

India’s online gaming industry is beginning to evolve-slowly but discernibly-from a largely unregulated, reputation-sensitive sector into one that is showing early signs of maturity and accountability. The SKOCH Responsible Gaming Survey, conducted in June 2025 (covering 53 Gaming apps), builds on the baseline established in September 2024 and presents a picture that, while still uneven, reveals real momentum on several fronts.

The biggest shift is not in regulation but in industry behaviour. Compliance, once considered peripheral, is now climbing up the priority ladder for a growing number of gaming platforms. This is being driven not by fear of enforcement but by a clearer understanding of what it means to build long-term trust with users and investors.

Framework Sets Stage

At the heart of this transformation lies the SKOCH Responsible Digital Gaming Framework, launched in July 2024 at the 98th SKOCH Summit. Developed through six months of structured dialogue with legal experts, economists, mental health professionals, regulators and gaming executives, the framework introduced a 74-indicator structure to assess both technical compliance (presence of policy) and quality of compliance (effectiveness in execution).
The framework is sector-agnostic, covering a broad array of practices: player protection, grievance redressal, ethical marketing, risk mitigation, safer gameplay, financial checks, social messaging and mental health support. It is comprehensive but flexible—designed to evolve with the industry’s needs.

What is Improving?

One of the most encouraging takeaways from the June 2025 survey is the improvement in the quality of compliance, which rose from 27% in September 2024 to 29% in June 2025. While the industry’s overall technical compliance remained flat (34%, down marginally from 35%), it is the depth of implementation—real- world responsiveness and effectiveness—that has shown upward movement.

This improvement was visible across multiple indicators:

• Voluntary Self- Exclusion features became more accessible and visible.
• Grievance Redressal saw better integration and faster resolution times.
• Safer Real Money Gaming Interactions increased in frequency and clarity.

These are not cosmetic changes—they reflect deeper back-end investment in responsible operations.

Who is Improving?

This year’s survey confirms that compliance performance is spreading across the board, not just concentrated in a handful of players:

• 40% of gaming apps improved their compliance rank.
• 55% showed improved compliance scores.
• The proportion of apps scoring over 50% quadrupled, from 1% to 4% in less than a year.

These are notable figures, considering the voluntary nature of the SKOCH framework. There are no regulatory penalties, no statutory filings—only public benchmarking. Yet, peer pressure, stakeholder
expectations and the reputational rewards of being seen as responsible are now proving to be strong motivators.

Focus Areas

Some of the most visible gains have come in historically weak areas:

Mental Health, which averaged just 1% in September 2024, rose to 7% in June 2025. The increase was driven by improvements in counselling services, awareness campaigns, and internal policy documentation.

Know Your Limits, which helps players set personal boundaries on time and money, saw technical adoption rise from 11% to 35%.

Public Awareness and Education indicators nearly quintupled—evidence that platforms are beginning to take user education seriously.

Other noteworthy improvements include higher scores in Professionalism (up from 35% to 40%) and Social Responsibility (from 23% to 28%), suggesting a more holistic approach to compliance beyond mere
legal survival.

Long Road Ahead

SKOCH surveys shows despite these gains, the journey is far from complete. Some parameters remain stubbornly under-addressed. Credit restriction, financial vulnerability checks and suicide prevention protocols continue to score in the single digits. Most apps still lack meaningful engagement with mental health professionals and multi-language accessibility remains a low priority despite India’s linguistic diversity.

In short, there is momentum—but also a clear need for acceleration. The industry is moving beyond the “checklist” approach to compliance, but much of that movement is still in its early stages.

Towards Responsible Gaming Culture

The June 2025 findings makes clear that the industry is capable of change when given the right tools, metrics and benchmarks. The SKOCH Responsible Gaming Framework has proven that a voluntary, well-structured model can drive genuine introspection and improvement—even without regulatory compulsion.

In an environment of rising user expectations and growing scrutiny, companies that embed compliance as a core value—rather than a crisis response—will be the ones best positioned to thrive. The question is no longer whether responsible gaming matters. The question is who leads in making it the norm.

Comparative Table

REPORTING INDICATORS	Jun 2025			Sep 2024
	Technical %	Extent %	Average %	Technical %	Extent %	Average %
1. Responsibility	49	35	42	50	26	38
1.1 Player Protection	51	36	44	43	22	33
1.1.1 Underage RMG	89	60	74	81	42	62
1.1.2 Restriciting Access	73	51	62	83	42	63
1.1.3 Know Your Limits	35	27	31	11	5	8
1.1.4 Voluntary Self-Exclusion	53	41	47	40	22	31
1.1.5 Credit Restriction	11	8	10	4	17	10
1.1.6 Responsible Marketing	46	30	38	42	21	31
1.2 Safer Gaming	48	32	40	37	20	28
1.2.1 Company Verification	58	41	49	68	38	53
1.2.2 Deposit Limit	52	38	45	28	15	22
1.2.3 Company License	41	31	36	30	15	23
1.2.4 Ethical Conduct	51	54	52	66	34	50
1.2.5 Industry Ombudsman	20	15	18	11	6	9
1.2.6 Age Restriction	64	56	60	79	42	61
1.2.7 Market Control	8	6	7	0	0	0
1.2.8 Stake Limits	24	17	20	13	6	10
1.3 Financial Safety	42	31	36	36	19	27
1.3.1 Anti-money Laundering	43	32	37	23	12	17
1.3.2 Statutory RMG Levy	79	61	70	89	48	68
1.3.3 Online Slots Stake Limits	10	8	9	4	2	3
1.3.4 Fin Vulnerability Checks	21	14	17	0	0	0
1.3.5 Grievance Redressal	84	60	72	100	52	76
1.3.6 Black Market Control	14	10	12	0	0	0
1.4 Fair and Transparency	53	39	46	94	47	71
1.5 Regulatory Compliance	58	43	51	85	43	64
1.6 Public Awareness and Edu	44	29	37	11	5	8
2. Integrity Gaming	44	31	37	46	24	35
2.1 Financial Integrity	38	28	33	45	23	34
2.1.1 Licence Check	39	30	34	28	14	21
2.1.2 Bonus Restrictions	45	31	38	58	31	45
2.1.3 Business Details	29	22	26	49	24	37
2.2 Anti-Corruption Measures	24	16	20	23	11	17
2.3 Fair and Transparency	62	46	54	90	49	70
2.4 Data Security	31	22	27	40	25	32
2.5 Ethical Conduct	51	38	45	57	28	42
2.6 Compliance Monitoring	62	44	53	57	28	42
2.7 Education and Awareness	39	26	33	11	5	8
3. Risk Management	40	27	34	53	29	41
3.1 Regulatory oversight	15	10	13	14	9	12
3.2 Vetting industry employees	8	6	7	6	4	5
3.3 Regulatory Obligation	58	34	46	68	33	51
3.4 Learning and Guidelines	75	55	65	77	42	60
3.5 Mitigation Measures	40	28	34	35	20	28
4. Professionalism	46	33	40	46	23	35
4.1 Customer Service	76	54	65	98	49	74
4.2 Industry Knowledge	23	16	19	13	7	10
4.3 Risk Management	31	21	26	40	18	29
4.4 Financial Integrity	84	64	74	57	28	43
4.5 Conflict Resolution	62	41	51	94	45	70
4.6 Professional Development	18	12	15	11	5	8
4.7 Corp Social Responsibility	32	22	27	15	6	11
5. Marketing & Advertisement	39	27	33	41	21	31
5.1 Risk Warning	25	17	21	8	4	6
5.2 Prohibition of Misleading Ads	6	3	5	30	15	23
5.3 Protection of Minors	82	59	71	85	45	65
6. Social Responsibility	31	24	28	31	15	23
6.1 Social Messaging	23	16	19	22	12	17
6.1.1 Dynamic Messaging	18	12	15	6	3	4
6.1.2 Informative Messaging	45	33	39	57	29	43
6.1.3 Self-Appraising Messaging	19	13	16	4	2	3
6.1.4 Monetary & Time-Based Pop-up	10	7	8	23	12	17
6.2 Crime Prevention	35	32	33	29	15	22
6.2.1 Cyber Crime Prevention	48	37	42	58	29	44
6.2.2 Financial Loss Prevention	28	19	23	0	0	0
6.3 Fairness and Transparency	29	39	34	0	0	0
6.4 Protection of Vulnerable	18	12	15	2	1	2
6.5 Online Protections	53	38	45	68	34	51
6.6 Human Rights	29	21	25	32	14	23
6.6.1 Harm Awareness	10	7	8	2	1	1
6.6.2 Safer RMG Interactions	35	26	30	49	23	36
6.6.3 Suicide Prevention	5	4	5	0	0	0
6.6.4 Customer Interaction	68	48	58	75	34	55
7. Mental Health	8	5	7	1	0	1
7.1 Mental Health Policies	7	4	6	0	0	0
7.2 Employee Assistance Programs	1	1	1	0	0	0
7.3 Mental Health Awareness	8	5	7	0	0	0
7.4 Digital Literacy	13	9	11	0	0	0
7.5 Counselling Services	20	13	17	6	26	16
7.6 Work Environment	2	1	1	0	0	0
7.7 Monitoring and Adjustment	8	4	6	0	0	0
8. Multi-Language	16	11	14	15	8	12
8.1 User Accessibility	36	24	30	25	12	18
8.2 Cultural Sensitivity	4	3	4	0	0	0
8.3 Business Opportunities	0	0	0	0	0	0
8.4 Cross-Language Info Retrieval	14	10	12	23	12	17
8.5 Customer Support	22	16	19	57	27	42
8.6 Content Localisation	15	10	13	4	2	3
8.7 Sentiment Analysis	16	11	13	0	0	0
Industry Average	34	24	29	35	19	27

Disclaimer:

• The views expressed in this feature and accompanying box story are based on SKOCH Group’s independent research, surveys, and analysis. Compliance scores reflect voluntary adoption of best
  practices by companies and are not indicative of statutory compliance or regulatory approvals. Technical compliance is assessed based on features visible or disclosed on publicly available platforms, while quality of compliance reflects the subjective assessment of SKOCH researchers with academic backgrounds in law, economics, and public policy.
• Legal references to High Court judgments are derived from publicly accessible orders and are cited here for informational and analytical purposes. These do not constitute legal advice, nor should they be construed as final interpretations of the law. Readers are encouraged to read the full text of court decisions and seek independent legal counsel for specific applications.
• All company names, app titles and trademarks mentioned are the properties of their respective owners and are used solely for illustrative and reporting purposes.

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