India’s New Gaming Legislation: A Deep Dive.

In the vast landscape of digital entertainment, one industry has emerged as a dominant force, captivating the hearts and minds of billions worldwide—the online gaming industry. It's a realm where pixels meet passion, competition merges with community, and entertainment seamlessly fuses with technology. With the advent of the internet, online gaming has experienced an unprecedented explosion, transforming from a niche pastime into a global cultural phenomenon.

The Indian gaming industry is no less than a sunrise sector with an annual growth rate that is touching the roof. The online giving industry of India was valued at around Rs 101 billion in 2021. It saw a whooping growth and became worth Rs 135 billion in the year 2022.? studies have shown that by 2025 the sector is expected to be around Rs 231 billion.? this is almost a growth rate of 19% compounded annually according to business today’s report.

The reason for our discussion on the Indian online gaming industry is that the government has carried out a few tweaks in the legislation regarding it.? This has made it a subject of viral discourse.

They are not exactly new acts or laws it's just that the government has revised its regulatory policy regarding online betting games. These regulations have been enforced through amendments in the IT Rules 2021. The ministry responsible for this is the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The objective of these amendments is described as greater due diligence to be offered by social media intermediaries and online gaming intermediaries.

Features of the new rules:

A clear definition of online gaming has been presented as, “ a game that is offered on the Internet and is accessible by a user through a computer resource or an intermediary.”

It makes the intermediate and the host responsible for screening out the games that they are hosting on their platform.? they must enjoy that these games are screened by an authorised regulatory body designated by the union government.

Online games that involve any kind of gambling (including ads) are outright banned. However, games of skill are allowed. This has created some confusion regarding the distinction between a game of skill and a game of chance.

Additional obligations of the host include:

o The displaying of a mark of verification by the self-regulatory body on such games

o Informing their users of the policy for withdrawal or refund of the deposit

o Obtaining the KYC details of the users

o Not giving credit or enabling financing by third parties to the users

Perhaps the most interesting feature of this new rules are the establishment of different sets of bodies for regulating online games.

“The Government may notify multiple self-regulatory bodies, which shall be representative of the online gaming industry but it will function at arm’s length from their members, and a Board consisting of Directors who are free from conflict of interest and represent all relevant stakeholders and experts, including online games users, educationists, psychology or mental health experts, ICT experts, persons with child rights protection experience and individuals having experience in relevant fields of public policy and administration.” (direct quote from PIB)

As far as the proliferation of fake news is concerned,? The rules already cast an obligation on intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to not host, publish or share any information which is patently false untrue or misleading in nature.

There are certain criticism of the newly amended rules but it is seen largely in the interest of the larger public.

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