With the rise of the gaming industry, the Indian Government is considering imposing time and spending limits on online and real-money games. This is done to address gaming addiction among children, adults, and young people.
The Economic Times has reported that this measure was a topic of discussion in recent internal meetings with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. In these meetings, gamers and developers deliberated on various aspects of the Information Technology Rules 2021.
It’s worth noting that similar discussions have taken place in China, underscoring the global nature of this issue and its impact on the gaming world. The IT ministry’s report concluded that time limits are the most effective approach to certifying games as permissible or non-permissible through self-regulatory organizations (SROs).
How Regulations Under Online Gaming Rules Work?
The Indian government regulates online gaming through private self-regulatory bodies. These bodies can approve online real-money games in which gamers are allowed to enter the gaming market. However, online gaming rules that were proposed last January and passed in April have yet to take effect.
The official in the meeting said that despite problems, it is a real possibility that the gaming SROs formed will be industry-specific, and it is not a desirable setup where so many children are involved.
With recent research, India is well known for the gaming market, where 570 million games are actively participating every day. Also, the report given in March this year by real money gaming firm WinZO and the Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC) shows that 140 of these gamers engage themselves in real money transactions.
Further, the data also reveal that Indian users downloaded over 9.5 billion gaming apps on mobile devices in 2023. If time and spending limits are imposed, the gaming industry will establish mechanisms to ensure compliance.
The proposals come from the Esports Player Welfare Association(EPWA) and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), which were backed by the Esports Games Federation (EGF) and the All India Gaming Federation. According to the government, these three proposals were deemed industry, and this is unacceptable by the government.
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