MeitY releases draft amendments for regulation of online gaming; Here's everything you need to know - Explainer

MeiTY proposes amendments in IT rules 2021 for self-regulation of online gaming.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendment in the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, to regulate online gaming in India. It has released the draft amendment for the public discussion and asked for feedback by January 17, 2023 from the public.

As per the proposed amendments, MeitY aims to make online gaming intermediary (platforms) to follow due diligence by self-regulation and mandatory player verification.

A few days back, the Central government had made MeitY the nodal ministry for Online gaming regulation. The government aims to force online gaming platforms to follow IT rules, 2021 and verified users/players before letting them playing on the platforms.

.@GoI_MeitY invites feedback on draft amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules,2021 in relation to #OnlineGaming

Read@ https://t.co/Y18wUHvZvI

Submit Feedback - https://t.co/x8RfEmj7Md by 17 Jan #DigitalIndia @AshwiniVaishnaw @Rajeev_GoI pic.twitter.com/ny2Rjy9u7G

— Digital India (@_DigitalIndia) January 2, 2023

Moroever, there will be a registration mark for all online games to confirm the registration from the self-regulatory body in order to follow additional due diligence. It will force online gaming intermediary to inform its users regarding its policy related to withdrawal or refund of deposit, manner of dtermination and distribution of winnings, fees and other charges payable and KYC procedure for user account registration.

Betting on online games can also be prohibited once the proposed amendments come into effect. 

Self-regulatory bodies will be registered with the Ministry and may register online games of such online gaming intermediaries who are its members and which meet certain criteria. Such bodies will also resolve complaints through a grievance redressal mechanism.

Online Gaming Issue

Online Gaming has so far remained unregulated in India and has been the bone of contention. Many cases have been seen in the past in which users were being duped or coerced to spend lakhs of rupees especially teenagers.