In a draft amendment, The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has proposed a ban on online games where a user has to make a deposit in an expectation to earn winnings, as notified on Jan 2, 2023. This comes in the wake of the user base of online games growing in India, which the ministry said, needed to be safeguarded against potential harm.
Titled ‘draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’, it introduces a self regulatory body registered with the ministry to register the online games that offer conformity of Indian laws. The regulatory body will comprise of: an independent eminent person from the field of online gaming; an individual representing online game players; an individual from the field of psychology, or related field of medicine; an individual from the tactical experience in the field of public policy, anointed by the Central Government; and an individual from the field of information communication technology.
The draft amendments are placed on the Ministry’s website and are open for comments from the public till January 17, 2023. Feedback may be submitted on the website of MyGov.
Also Read: Smartphone addiction leading to health disorders in rural India
In December, 2022 Gaon Connection had carried an elaborate report citing the impacts of online gaming and gambling turning into a debt and death trap for the rural youth. It can be read here.
On April 1, 2022, Congress MP Dean Kuriakose introduced the Online Gaming (Regulation) Bill, 2022, to ‘establish an effective regime to regulate online gaming industry to prevent fraud and misuse and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto’.
The bill specifies that India has around 420 million active online gamers and the Indian online gaming sector is growing at nearly 30 per cent annually. This industry is slated to grow to five billion dollars by 2025.
Gambling is illegal in India but online gaming for stakes remains a grey area. In India, the archaic Public Gambling Act, 1867, governs penalties for “public gambling”. So, most of the online gaming portals which involve an element of betting or gambling, promote their product as a game of skill rather than a game of chance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3tqq3PUEQ
What are the new amendments?
The draft amendments expect an online gaming intermediary to regulate its users not to host, display, upload, publish, transmit or share an online game not in line with Indian law, including that on gambling or betting.
Moreover, all online games must bear a registration mark registered by a self-regulatory body of the ministry.
The users must be informed clearly about game policy regarding the deposit or withdrawal of the fund, fees or any charges involved in terms of cash or kind. A KYC procedure must be in place for the user’s account. The self-regulatory bodies will also resolve complaints through a grievance redressal mechanism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU_vdOg__l8
The IT ministry has invited the public feedback on these draft amendments, not after January 17, 2023. The feedback can be submitted here.
