New Delhi: The government will impose restrictions on online gaming and real-money games to address addiction concerns, particularly among children and young adults.
According to a report in The Economic Times (ET), “A consensus on this method, which has also been adopted in China, emerged in the recent internal meetings of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology during which various aspects of the Information Technology Rules of 2021 were discussed”.
Rather than depending on self-regulatory organisations (SRO) to determine the permissibility of games, the government is exploring the possibility of imposing time limits as a more proactive approach.
The proposed guidelines
The time and spending limits would necessitate mechanisms from gaming companies to ensure adherence in India, ET reported.
One possibility is to ensure spending curbs on a player’s past expenditure and age. This move follows the IT ministry’s April 2023 amendment to the IT Rules, granting gaming companies and industry bodies 90 days to form an SRO. However, the government can also set up its own SRO if the industry proposals are deemed unsuitable.
The ministry rejected three proposals received for the SRO formation, including those submitted by the Esports Welfare Association, a collaboration between the Esports Federation of India (EGF) the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), and the All India Gaming Federation, ET added.
India is one of the largest gaming markets globally, boasting approximately 570 million active gamers. A significant portion of these gamers, about 25% or so, are involved in real-money gaming activities.
Notably, in November 2019, China banned players under the age of 18 from playing games for longer than 90 minutes per day for three hours on public holidays. These rules were further tightened in August 2021, when the Chinese government stipulated that those under-18 years can only play for one hour on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
In India, according to the government, “Permissible online games are those games, real money or otherwise, that do not involve wagering, user harm in its content and do not create any addictive consequences for children.”
• The government will set up several SROs with representatives from various sectors. These SROs will decide if a game is allowed or not.
• Gaming firms or platforms must not offer, publish, or share online games that have harmful or banned content. They must verify the identity of online gamers.
• Online games that involve any kind of gambling (including ads) will be prohibited.
• SROs will also make sure games follow guidelines to prevent addiction and mental harm through parental controls, frequent warning messages, and age-rating systems.
• The gamers will have the option to opt out after reaching their own limits for time or money spent.
The role of SROs
Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) will ensure whether an online game is permissible or not, based on whether it involves wagering or betting. Three SROs will be initially notified, but the government can add more later.
The new rules also dictate that SROs include an educationist, an expert in the field of psychology or mental health, and an individual who is or has been a member or officer of an organisation dealing with the protection of child rights.
Online gaming rules in India
The government wants to ensure the rules prevent user harm such as self-harm and psychological harm, from online gaming; safeguard children from inappropriate or harmful online games by using parental or access control and age-rating mechanism; reduce the risk of gaming addiction, financial loss and financial fraud by warning users repeatedly and allowing them to exclude themselves upon user-defined limits being reached for time or money spent; ensure that online real money games are not against the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India.
