MeitY Releases Draft Amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in relation to Online Gaming

· Online Gaming Industry Poised for Rapid Expansion and Growth: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

· Feedback may be submitted on the website of MyGov (https://innovateindia.mygov.in/online-gaming-rules/ ) by 17.1.2023.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology today released draft amendments to the IT intermediary rules 2021, pertaining to Online Gaming for public consultations.

The draft has been prepared to ensure that online games should be offered in conformity with Indian laws and that the users of such games be safeguarded against potential harm.

Last week, on 26th December, the Government through a gazette notification, notified change in Allocation of Business rules designating Meity as the nodal ministry for online gaming related concerns. Today, on 2nd January, merely a week later, the Ministry released the draft rules for public consultation.

Briefing reporters on the proposed draft, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar affirmed that "The rules are simple - we would like the online gaming ecosystem to expand & grow and be an important catalyst to India’s One trillion dollar Digital economy goal by 2025-26. We also envision a bigger role for startups in the online gaming industry”.

The Minister said that the Ministry had moved swiftly in framing of the policy and this was possible due to a series of meetings/consultations conducted by MeiTY with stakeholders prior to drafting the policy. He added that the Ministry would be holding another set of public consultations to finalize the policy soon.

He said the draft has proposed a self-regulatory mechanism which, in future, may also regulate the content of online gaming and ensure that the games do not have violent, addictive or sexual content.

As of now, the age gating is 18 years and we would like to keep it that way and see if the present framework works to expand the innovation ecosystem around online gaming while keeping it safe & trusted for gamers.

Speaking on the safety concerns, the Minister said around 40 to 45 percent of the gamers in India are women, and therefore it was all more important to keep the gaming ecosystem safe.

He said the draft rules have strict provisions against betting and wagering. The online games that allow wagering on the outcome are effectively a no-go area, he stressed.