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Publish Date: | Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:39 AM (IST)
Online Gaming Regulator: Through a landmark Cabinet Secretariat notification, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been appointed as the nodal agency for matters related to online gaming on December 26, 2022. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology later published draft rules for regulation of online gaming and invited suggestions from the public.
Given the various court judgments as well as the draft rules for online gaming, the way forward should be crystal clear for the Madhya Pradesh task force to regulate online gaming.
The draft rules by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology leave the matter of betting and gambling to the states, while courts have ruled that online skill-based games are not betting or gambling. Even Madhya Pradesh’s neighboring state of Chhattisgarh has recently passed a law banning online gambling and betting, but skill-based games have been kept out of the purview of this law as per judicial guidelines.
To this, lawyer Amitansh Shukla says, “The direction from the Center is clear – MeitY will regulate online gaming, while states will continue to regulate betting and gambling. The courts are clear – skill-based sports are different from betting and gambling. Chhattisgarh is showing the way by banning online betting and gambling except for skill based games. It is a prudent law, and Madhya Pradesh can replicate it to good effect, aligning with central mandates.”
The move to appoint the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as the online gaming regulator fulfills a long-standing demand by several stakeholders of the online gaming industry including states, platforms, policy makers and users. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is the central ministry with responsibility for matters related to online gaming, and the draft rules take into account matters of player safety, KYC norms, grievance redressal mechanisms and self-regulation modalities. The rules have been made to protect players, promote development and contribute to the exchequer.
This should be sufficient to avoid inconsistency in state policy, which hinders the growth of the online gaming sector and inhibits the larger AVGC sector. There is every possibility that Madhya Pradesh will also follow the same policies as its neighboring states.
Posted By: Arvind Dubey
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