House always wins
India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has released draft rules for public consultation on its gaming industry that include a proposed self-regulating system for select registered online gaming companies.
The move clarifies speculation surrounding India’s intent to regulate the industry. When calls for oversight over the lucrative sector emerged early last month, the country vowed to regulate games involving money.
«The rules are simple – we would like the online gaming ecosystem to expand and 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,» minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters of the new draft rules.
The changes, which are implemented as an amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, would require online games to register with the self-regulating body for clearance to operate in India.
The rules also include a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving complaints, public clarity on withdrawing money, refunds or winning distributions, and know-your-customer procedures.
