The inter-ministerial has been setup by the government to regulate online gaming industry. The seven member panel includes NITI Aayog’s CEO, the secretaries of Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”), home affairs, revenue, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (“MIB”), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeIY”) and sports ministry. According to reports, the panel has suggested the following:
· Examining issues faced by online gaming industry.
· A comprehensive and uniform regulatory regime for safe, transparent and responsible gaming environment. Both domestic gaming operators and foreign operators targeting Indian users will be governed by such regulators. Provisions related to issuance of license and blocking of entities are also included within the regulatory framework.
· MeITY will regulate Online gaming industry.
· Setting up of a regulatory body which will determine whether a game is a game of skill or chance.
· It will put a cap on the money that may be spent by individual players in the game.
· Mandatory reporting of suspicious transactions to Financial Intelligence Unit.
- Three tier dispute resolution mechanism, comprising of gaming operator, self regulatory organizations of gaming operators, and oversight body led by a Government Ministry.
Presently the panel is debating whether gaming aggregators fall under the category of intermediaries or publishers. Section 79(1) of the I.T. Act does not make any intermediary liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by them. The panel is yet to take a call whether section 79 of IT Act could be used to regulate online platforms that simultaneously act as Intermediaries and publishers of Online gaming Content.
Presently, it is being discussed that Section 79(2)(c) of the Act can be used to regulate the intermediaries who also act as publishers as it casts an obligation upon intermediary to observe due diligence and follow such guidelines that may be provided by the government from time to time.
The ministry of home affairs has categorized gaming aggregators as an “intermediary”. But in such a scenario the gaming aggregators can escape their liability as section 79 (1) the at does not make them liable.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has categorized online gaming portals as publishers, noting that the platforms play a significant role in determining the information offered to users.
On the other hand Department of consumer affairs said that regulations pertaining to gaming sphere cannot be regulated under Consumer Protection Act but it can curb unfair trade practices and misleading ads provided by gaming apps.
The issue of categorization of gaming aggregators should be resolved by the upcoming online gaming regulations.