iWorld
Aashram was viewed by users from 2500+ cities: MX Player’s Gautam Talwar
KOLKATA: How do you spend time when a virus has taken away all the usual options of outside home entertainment? The answer lies in screens. For most of the country, the television sets and the six-inch screens have served as source of entertainment since the onset of the pandemic. But at the beginning of the lockdown, there was a dearth of fresh television content as well. As a result, over-the-top (OTT) platforms in the country emerged as the alternative for a new wave of users along with the existing consumers.
Times Internet’s “bold bet” MX Player is one of them. It has witnessed a huge surge in user base during this period. As MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar says “it has been quite crazy”. While the platform has kept content flow usual with launch of around ten shows during this period, the user engagement has gone beyond expectation in all metrics, as Talwar shares without divulging the exact numbers. Thanks to a host of new releases, the consumers shifting from the linear mode of content consumption to watching on-demand content have exploded even after unlock.
According to Talwar, the platform has broken all the records after the launch of Aashram which was in production for more than two years. He claims the show has recorded 250 million + streams within 15-18 days of its launch. With this show, the platform has witnessed the number of screens growing exponentially as well as a dramatic upsurge in watch time. Some northern markets like Delhi NCR have responded very well to the show.
As per the data shared by him, Aashram was viewed by users from 2500+ cities ranging from metropolitan to rural cities. While it was liked by users across all the cities, however the affinity in tier I (Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad etc) and tier II (Agra. Ludhiana, Meerut, Chandigarh, Ranchi etc) was higher than the metropolitan cities, precisely 1.2 times more higher. Although he did not share exact number, he added that there are more than enough viewers that are binge watching Aashram.
“It was conceptualised two years ago by the MX content team and we were sure that this is a fascinating world and must be explored. So, we got Habib Faisal on board to write the story and the bible first and then Kuldeep Ruhil to write the screenplay and dialogues for the show. Thereafter, we took it to Prakash Jha who along with his team also added a whole lot to the writing process along with the MX team and that's how the show got conceptualised. The genre was chosen because data suggests that crime dramas are something that our core audience loves and consumes in quantity and hence it was a no brainer.” Talwar comments.
MX Player did not leave any stone unturned to promote the marquee content. While all the major OTT platforms halted outdoor campaigns during the lockdown, Aashram romanced with billboards. The platform went for a 360 degree campaign and the media mix included radio along with TV and digital.
Aashram is helping in overall engagement as well. The cohort of users who are coming to the platform to watch this particular show are sampling other content from the similar genre leading to a higher retention rate. However, it is not unique to this particular show only.
“Once a new user comes on the platform, they discover the content slate and then they cherry pick. All metrics of engagement have gone up because of this trend. They come for one show and sample other shows and the fact that they stay on is a testament to good content being on the platform,” Talwar opines.
Image
Hence, it is apprehensible why the parent company is not shying away from investing more in the platform. In the annual report of Times Internet, vice chairman Satyan Gajwani said: “Two years ago, we made our largest acquisition, and it was a bold bet: that we could build a video streaming platform atop a local video player, developing and licensing compelling content to build a new user habit on an existing app. I’m extremely pleased with our results… In less than 18 months, MX Player now engages over 200 million monthly users, making MX Player the largest premium video destination in India.”
While most of the major OTT players in India are now going for the subscription-based model, MX Player is the one which has not taken its content behind paywall yet. Thanks to the scale of users, the platform is attracting major brands.
Talwar says the appetite for good content has gone up as users are getting more aquatinted with premium content. “The pressure is now to deliver more,” he states. “All the data mining that we do basis how the shows are doing, the pressure is going to get even more accurate. The more you know, the pressure is to make sure to deliver to your particular audience. My audience may be slightly different from other OTT platform because we are a mass-market channel. Our core audience lies in tier II-tier III towns. Therefore, we are trying to understand what they like because they are also experiencing digital for the first time,” he adds.
Thanks to feedback on metrics like completion rate, watching pattern of users, the platform is fine-tuning its content strategy. It has also noticed that the sweet spot of an episode’s length ranges between 20-40 minutes.
Recently, MX Player also forayed into short form video with the launch of the new platform. But it is also experimenting with long-form content as well. “There is a show that we are looking at in terms of interactivity. Right now, we are at writing stages of it. We have to see how to build that level of functionality once we kind of get to that,” Talwar states.
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
