The Indian government, while admitting that it has received “grievances regarding ill-effects of online games and gambling”, said there were various federal advisories regarding parameters for advertising such products in the media, but only the States have the “power to legislate in this domain” as it’s a subject within their jurisdiction.

“The rapid expansion of Internet in India has also seen many different types of intermediaries in both the existing and the newly emerging categories. Online gaming is one of the new emerging categories of intermediaries… Government is aware of the possible risks and challenges, including that of user harms associated with online games. This Ministry has also received grievances regarding ill-effects of online games and gambling,” junior Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of parliament) last week.

He, however, added since betting and gambling were listed as State subjects under the Indian Constitution, States had the power to legislate in this domain. “The States/Union Territories (federally administered regios) have enacted their laws to deal with gambling, including which are available online within their jurisdictions,” the Minister explianed.

Chandrasekhar was responding to queries from a fellow parliamentarian whether it was a fact that digital app based games were being advertised on the national channels where it’s claimed that money can be used through digital wallets to play the games, apart from the fact that students and young people wasted their time and family’s money in these digital games.

The Minister also informed that his ministry blocks apps and URLs, including online games, based on specific requests received from other government organizations  and States due to various reasons under specific guidelines and rules.

According to Chandrasekhar, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in December 2020 had issued an advisory on advertisements relating to online games, fantasy sports, etc. to all private satellite TV channels, advising them to follow the guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

Meanwhile, the All India Gaming Federation, while batting for self-regulation, maintains that the online gaming sector has great potential in India and government regulations should keep pace with the developments, including global best practices.

The latest FICCI-EY report Indian media and entertainment industry, released recently, stated despite people going back to work as the effects of the pandemic receded, and regulatory uncertainty, the online gaming segment grew 28 percent in 2021 to reach INR101 billion. Online gamers grew 8 percent from 360 million in 2020 to 390 million. Real money gaming comprised over 70 percent of segment revenues.