New Online Gaming Rules Issued By Government

The Union government has released new rules for online gaming as part of the amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.

The rules propose governance via self-regulatory organisations, said the Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, at a press conference on Thursday. The bodies will have the authority to verify whether an online real-money game is "permissible" or not.

Chandrasekhar said the online gaming rules don't deal with nuances of sophistication, of games of chance versus skill, but instead lay out a basic principle that the moment an online game involves betting or wagering, regardless of the content of the game, then it falls afoul of these rules.

The final draft notification said that the permissibility of the online real money game will be determined on the basis of whether it involves wagering on any outcome. However, the rules don't define the term 'wagering'.

"Over the last several months, we've seen many young startups run afoul of state laws. Young startups have had to deal with ambiguous and confusing legal processes. We hope these rules create a stable framework for all startups interested in online gaming," he said.

For now, there will be three self-regulatory organisations, and more may come up in the future, he said.

Defining An Online Gaming Self-Regulatory Body

Any entity that is a company registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, and has the following members on its board, can apply to be notified as a self-regulatory organisation:

• An individual having special knowledge of or practical experience in the online gaming industry.

• An individual having experience in promoting the interests of users of online games.

• An educationist.

• An expert in the field of psychology or mental health or such other relevant field.

• An individual having special knowledge of or practical experience in the field of information and communications technology.

• An individual who is or has been a member or officer of an organisation dealing with the protection of child rights.

• An individual having practical experience in the field of public policy or public administration or law enforcement or public finance or other relevant fields, to be nominated by the Ministry.

• Other individuals may be appointed with the previous approval of the Ministry.

There can be as many online gaming self-regulatory bodies that the Ministry considers necessary for the purposes of verifying an online real money game as permissible.

“If an SRO does something wrong, they will be denotified,” Chandrasekhar said.

“The release of the new online gaming rules is a watershed moment for the industry, as it recognizes online gaming intermediaries and distinguishes them from gambling ... The uniform legal framework provided by these rules will boost investor confidence," said Sai Srinivas, chief executive officer and co-founder at MPL—one of India's largest real-money gaming platforms with over 9 crore users.