The Ministry of Electronics and Inforamtion Technology (MeitY) has announced rules on online gaming under the Information Technology Act of 2000, aimed at controlling the emerging gaming industry and curbing online gaming apps and platforms. These online gaming rules (Intermediary guidelines and digital media ehtics code rules, 2021) were amended in the IT Act, 2000. The Central Government has also released the term “online gaming”, which means “a game offered on the Internet and accessed by a user through a computer resource or an intermediary”.
Let us try to understand the new rules for online gaming in simple terms:
Establishment of self-regulatory bodies (SROs) for online gaming
The Ministry has announced the establishment of a ‘Self-Regulatory Body for Online gaming,’ which means that there will be a body responsible for controlling online gaming platforms. Initially, three self-regulatory organisations will be designated by the government.
What will they do?
They are in charge of deciding whether a certain online gaming platform is allowed to continue operating with real money or not. “Permissible online games are games, real-money or not, that do not involve betting, do not harm users, and do not have addictive consequences for children,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.
These SROs will be made up of veterans, industry experts, educators, psychologists, communications experts and other stakeholders, rather than government.
How many SROs will the government establish?
The Department may designate, pursuant to the regulations, as many online gaming self-regulatory boards as it deems necessary to review an online real money game as a permissible online real money game under these regulations.
On what basis will online games be declared permissible or not?
SROs will use several factors to determine which online real money game is deemed permissible:
If the online real money game does not involve betting on a specific outcome,
If the intermediary and such online games comply with Rules 3 and 4 of the amended IT Act, 2000.
How do users know if the particular intermediary is verified?
Verified online real money games and online gaming intermediaries shall display a verifiable and visible mark of such verification indicating that the online real money game has been verified by the online gaming regulatory authority as a permissible online real money game under these rules.
Games involving real money wagering must comply with KYC standards in accordance with the Rules.
