Committed to growth of online gaming: IT Minister

“We are going by the principle of accountability and transparency. The government will certainly not allow the industry to hijack the SRO” —IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Press Trust of India

New Delhi: The government is committed to growth of online gaming with new rules safeguarding digital citizens, but will not allow hijack of the proposed self-regulatory body, that will operate at arm’s length from the industry and have equitable representation, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said.

SRO or the self-regulatory body, proposed under the draft rules for online gaming, will be an institutional body that will be tasked with registering online gaming intermediaries, and certifying what is a permitted online game and what is not.

The Minister also informed that many of the burning issues around online user harm, safety and trust, safeguarding children from addictive intermediaries or platforms will be addressed in the upcoming Digital India Act, a new legislation that will replace the over two-decade-old Information Technology Act.

As the Centre began extensive public consultation on draft rules for online gaming, the first set of discussions took place on Wednesday with key stakeholders -- parents, students and educationists -- over concerns, expectations, and suggestions on fine tuning, quite literally, the ‘rules of the game’.

Many educators urged the Minister to ensure that the proposed self regulatory body “operates at an arm’s length from the industry”, and pushed for framing of ‘objective criteria’ so the process is not abused by the industry. The next round of consultations will be with the online gaming industry, in the coming days.

The Minister assured a packed hall of parents, teachers, children, and young gamers that the SRO will have “equitable representation” by all stakeholders of the industry. The Minister also clarified that duties of the SRO as proposed by its board, will be approved by the government.

“We are going by the principle of accountability and transparency. The government will certainly not allow the industry to hijack the SRO,” the Minister said. The dialogue and deliberations stretched beyond the allocated time, a clear indication why the draft rules have swiftly become one of the most discussed issues in the tech sector.

The key suggestions made by participants during the parleys included revisiting the definition of online games, allowing age-appropriate certification of online games, and wider scope for the SRO so it can look at regulating in-game content, and addiction, and psychological issues arising from such games.