Central government notifies online gaming rules; self-regulatory bodies to verify whether games involve wagering
Abhijeet Gupta & Associates, Law Firm
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The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the final rules for online gaming in India on Thursday, months after proposing draught guidelines in the form of changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
A gaming platform was defined in the Draft Regulations as a "online gaming intermediary" with games registered with a "self-regulatory organisation." The Ministry will register the regulating organisation if it submits an application.
The committee will be in charge of determining whether an online real money game is legal based on whether it incorporates wagering.
According to the notification, the Ministry will appoint several online gaming self-regulatory bodies to verify whether an online real money game is a lawful game under these Rules.
“An online gaming intermediary, which enables access to its users to any permissible online real money game, shall display a demonstrable and visible mark of verification of such online game by an online gaming self-regulatory body on such permissible online real money game,” the notification had stated.
The following are some of the important tasks of self-regulatory bodies:
It shall publish and maintain an up-to-date list of all permitted online real money games that have been verified on its website, mobile-based application, or both at all times.
If it is satisfied that the online real money game confirmed by it is not in compliance with the Rules, it may suspend or revoke the verification of a gaming intermediary after providing an opportunity to be heard.
It shall publish on its website, mobile-based application, or both, a framework for verifying an online real money game, which shall include, among other things, measures to ensure that such online real money game is not against the interests of India's sovereignty and integrity; safeguards against user harm, including self-harm and psychological harm; measures to safeguard children, including parental or access control measures; and measures to safeguard users adolescent.