Online gaming allocated to IT Ministry; eSports under Sports Ministry

New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed as the nodal ministry for online gaming, a move the industry said would bring clarity and certainty for all stakeholders.

The Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been notified as the nodal Ministry for "eSports as part of multi-sports events".

The Centre notified these amendments to the Allocation of Business Rules recently.

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted that Meity will soon come out with norms for online gaming intermediaries.

The government is committed to fully encouraging tech innovation, but also to ensure no illegal content/services is possible. "@GoI_MeitY will soon publish rules for online gaming intermediaries and start public consultation on same," Chandrasekhar tweeted on Tuesday.

The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) lauded the government’s move to appoint the IT Ministry as the nodal ministry to regulate the online gaming sector, saying, "the appointment of MeitY as the central regulatory authority will provide clarity and certainty to investors, industry and consumers." "The decision is in line with the government’s initiative to push for growth of the AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic) sector and making India a global hub for online gaming," Joy Bhattacharjya, Director-General, FIFS said.

Bhattacharjya added: "We are sure that the online gaming industry will grow responsibly under MeitY’s guidance and the industry is looking forward to working with MeitY in creating a well-balanced regulatory framework." Bengaluru-headquartered blockchain-based esports fan engagement startup STAN said at a time when gaming and esports are emerging as the fastest growing sectors of the economy, it is heartening to see the government taking steps to uplift these sectors with increased regulatory clarity.

"We at STAN welcome this move to appoint nodal ministries for online gaming and esports both. This move is also in line with the much-needed agenda to recognise esports as an official sport in our country -- thereby giving a fantastic boost and a level playing field to today's esports athletes, gaming creators, and the community at large, and further also making esports a sunrise sector in India in 2023 and beyond," Parth Chadha, CEO and Co-Founder of STAN, said.

Rooter, the game and esports content platform, said the recognition of eSports as a part of multi-sports events is a welcome move.

It "... comes at an opportune time for the industry which has already seen rapid growth in 2022 on the back of multiple domestic and international tournaments where Indian teams have proven their mettle," Piyush Kumar, Founder & CEO of Rooter, said.

"As esports goes mainstream, effective policy push will also see it grow at the grassroots stages, with many schools and colleges adopting esports at competitive and representative levels. It will also give a fillip to the whole ecosystem of game publishers, streaming platforms, eSports organisers and teams, creating more opportunities for employment growth in the space," Kumar said.

The online gaming space has been under the regulatory lens, and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had recently said the Centre would come out with a proper policy or a new law on online gaming given the impact it has on society.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha earlier this month, noted that with more Indians coming online, the potential of them being exposed to online gaming platform with harmful information has also increased.

"With the expansion of the Internet and more and more Indians coming online, the potential for Indians being exposed to online game, offered by online gaming platform intermediaries including online games that have information that is harmful or violates any law, has also increased," he had said.

The minister said that the government has come up with Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT rules, 2021) which cast a specific obligation on intermediaries, including intermediaries offering online games, to observe diligence.

He had said that the rules provides that if intermediaries fail to observe diligence, they shall no longer be exempt from their liability under law for third-party information or data or communication link hosted by them.