Govt to soon frame rules for online gaming intermediaries: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

These rules, to be published by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will encourage innovation but ensure that there is no illegal content or service possible, Chandrasekhar said in a tweet.

On Monday, the government amended the allocation of business rules
to make the IT ministry the nodal agency to deal with online gaming and its intermediaries.

The rules for online gaming, which have seen a multi-fold expansion in the number of users and revenues, have been made by states till now. While several states have banned online games, alleging that they caused harm to players, companies have argued that there should be regulations for usage and other aspects instead of blanket bans.

The government’s move to make the IT ministry the nodal agency for online gaming is likely to provide regulatory clarity to the industry, Parth Chadha, the co-founder and chief executive officer of fan engagement platform STAN said.

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“This move is also in line with the much-needed agenda to recognize esports as an official sport in our country — thereby giving a fantastic boost and a level playing field to today’s esports athletes, gaming creators, and the community at large, and further also making esports a sunrise sector in India in 2023 and beyond,” Chadha said.

ET had in August this year reported that the
inter-ministerial taskforce, which was drawing up the framework to regulate online gaming, had proposed putting a cap on the amount of money being spent by players in games.

The seven-member inter-ministerial task force, which was set up in May, has members from the Niti Aayog, as well as secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Revenue, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as well as the Meity secretary.