iWorld
Women account for 28% of the country’s total app consumption, rural at 16.4%: Study
Mumbai: Indian women account for 28 per cent of the country’s total app consumption, with rural users accounting for 16.4 per cent. Together they drive over 70 per cent of purchasing decisions. Their purchasing power is reflected in key categories of app usage including social media apps, which increasingly convert sales, and e-commerce, according to a study from retention cloud platform CleverTap shared on Wednesday.
Analysing the usage of over 300 different mobile apps with an average monthly user base of more than four million, the new study revealed opportunities in India’s mobile app market, led by women and rural regions.
Women have major purchasing power, led by e-commerce
Women in India drive over 70 per cent of purchasing decisions, with their purchasing power reflected in key categories of app usage including social media apps, which increasingly convert sales, and e-commerce.
Based on the findings, the study suggests providers of ed-tech, social media, and fintech apps, in particular, consider marketing their apps to women. Women currently account for 37 per cent, 32.5 per cent and 31 per cent of usage, respectively, and are major consumers of products and services in these sectors.
Indian women outpace men in E-commerce app usage, accounting for 54 per cent of all usage. Global e-commerce brands would do well to create highly personalised and relevant commerce experiences for Indian women in order to drive revenue growth and cement customer loyalty.
Indian men account for a significant share of app interaction across several key verticals, including gaming (94 per cent), travel and transportation (84 per cent), on-demand services (78 per cent) and media and entertainment (77 per cent). Overall, men account for 72 per cent of mobile usage.
Rural India – a massive opportunity
Rural India is an underserved market on the cusp of seismic change. While app usage is currently 16.4 per cent, the split across verticals, CleverTap data shows consumers across cities and areas outside metropolitan centres gravitate to apps that can help them improve their education and quality of life.
Edutech (19.2 per cent), media and entertainment (17.7 per cent) and fintech (17 per cent) stand out as verticals that attract a disproportionately large number of rural users.
Adoption rates for health and fitness (13.2 per cent) are at the low end of the scale, but personalised strategies such as goal setting and reminder functionality can increase these numbers.
Among urban users, adoption rates for health and fitness, e-commerce, and travel and transportation are nearing saturation levels (85 per cent and above). This dynamic underlines the importance of shifting focus to growth opportunities emerging in rural areas, where competition is lower, and returns are higher.
User retention remains a challenge
CleverTap analysis also confirms the pivotal importance of focusing on user retention. Uninstall rates are a challenge across all app categories, negating costly user acquisition (UA) campaigns and threatening companies’ potential growth. Uninstall rates are highest in the gaming (44 per cent) and social engagement (46 per cent) sectors.
By contrast, sectors, where users perceive a high degree of value and convenience, have the lowest uninstall rates: On-demand services (21 per cent) and health and fitness (25 per cent). While these areas are better at retaining users, losing nearly a quarter of a subscriber base is still alarming. Data-driven offers, loyalty programs, and hyper-personalised marketing and messaging are just some of the ways brands and businesses can stem the attrition of these apps.
“Global events have radically changed consumer behaviour, particularly among women, who now rely on apps as the go-to channel for all aspects of their lives,” said CleverTap global CEO Sidharth Malik. “Similarly, rural users have come to depend on apps to make transactions or continue their education, and now view apps as a means to improve their lives. Understanding the striking and significant differences among user segments and preferences is the critical first step for companies to connect, convert and ultimately grow retention and lifetime value.”
Methodology
A mobile-savvy country where apps drive commerce, communications, education and social interactions, India was the second-largest global market in terms of app downloads in 2021, according to a report by Data.ai. The CleverTap study demonstrates that mobile-first brands and businesses have an opportunity to reach underserved demographics in the world’s second-most populous nation and fastest-growing major economy.
To understand mobile usage behaviour and identify trends in in-app consumption across India, the CleverTap data science team analysed over 300 mobile apps across different verticals, with an average monthly user base of more than 4 million. The usage behaviour was broken down by location (urban/rural); by gender across verticals (fintech, ed-tech, media and entertainment, health and fitness, travel and transportation, e-commerce, social engagement); by responses to engagement campaigns across different channels and verticals; and uninstall rates across verticals. More than 782 billion push notifications, 52 billion emails, and 10 billion in-app notifications were analysed for this study.
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.
