No self-regulation for e-gaming industry bodies: Minister

NEW DELHI: Industry bodies cannot become self-regulatory organisations to regulate online gaming and the watchdog has to be away from the dominance of industry players, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.

While speaking with reporters after an open house consultation with online gaming companies on the proposed rules, the minister said that he expects new rules to be notified by January 31.

The government has proposed a self-regulatory mechanism to regulate online gaming companies under the draft rules for online gaming.

“It is wrong to assume that an industry body will automatically become an SRO (self-regulatory organisation). Any industry body will not be SRO. It will be a body representing all the stakeholders,” Chandrasekhar said.

The minister said SRO will comprise representatives of children, parents, players, government, and gaming intermediaries. All gaming companies that can be allowed under the new rules will need to register with SRO.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has extended the last date for public comments on the proposed rules to January 25th from January 17th fixed earlier. Chandrasekhar said that both games of skills and games of chance can be permitted online but betting which is based on the outcome of real-life games will not be allowed.

The government has proposed a self-regulatory mechanism, mandatory verification of players and physical Indian addresses for online gaming companies, according to the draft online gaming rules.

Online gaming companies will be covered under the new IT rules that were issued in 2021 for social media platforms.

Chandrasekhar has already held extensive consultation on draft rules for online gaming with parents, students and educationalists - over concerns, expectations, and suggestions on fine-tuning, quite literally, the ‘rules of the game’.

India’s first CoE in online gaming to come up in Shillong by March: Minister

Chandrasekhar, on Friday, on a two-day visit to Meghalaya, also said the government will set up India’s first Centre of Excellence’ in online gaming in Shillong by March this year. The ministry had recently circulated draft amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, with regard to online gaming for public consultation. “The Centre of Excellence’ is expected to catalyse startups and entrepreneurs from the entire northeast region to build the next-generation online gaming ecosystem,” said the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

“It is the vision of PM Narendra Modi ji that the next wave of startups and entrepreneurs must come from Shillong, Kohima and other parts of the northeast,” he said.

Chandrasekhar also visited the Software Technology Park in Shillong and highlighted the importance of acquiring digital skills post the Covid pandemic. He said a facility under the National Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) will be set up in Shillong to provide training on digital skills. “A 10-acre campus shall soon be ready for this purpose which shall cater to the skilling requirement of youths in the northeast region,” the minister said. He also said the central government is relaunching Skill India’ under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an objective to train around 50,000 youths in Meghalaya in “future-ready skills with industry-backed job opportunities”. As far as other states in the region are concerned, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship has set a target to train nearly 60,000 youths in Tripura and 35,000 in Nagaland across a spectrum of approved courses, Chandrasekhar added.