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Online Games and Indian Society

The government should educate the public about online games and their losses via a variety of media, including counseling, dramas, movies, and other forms of entertainment. — Vinod Kumar

 

Technology advancements and the continually increasing number of internet users have caused a paradigm shift in the gaming industry. The legality of fantasy sports and online gaming in India is still largely unknown, even though rummy, poker, PUBG, and other games are played and watched online. The three primary categories of online gaming are real money games like poker, mobile games with pay walls to accelerate growth, and e-sports like FIFA. In recent years, fantasy sports have been increasingly popular among young working professionals and have distinguished themselves as a unique format unlike any other online game format now offered in India. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was sponsored by the fantasy sports website Dream 11 in 2020, which has significantly increased the popularity of fantasy sports in India. In addition to My 11 Circle, My Team 11, and Howzat Fantasy, Dream 11 is just one of several competitors on the Online Fantasy Sports Platform (OFSP). Sports fans used these websites to create virtual teams.

Any game played on an electronic device, such as a computer, mobile phone, tablet, or another device, is referred to as “online gaming” under section 2(e) of the law. Online gaming has seen a substantial upsurge in India at a time when the epidemic had a very bad effect on the majority of sectors, adopted in affordable data, accessibility to cellphones, and more free time as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns. The entire online casual gaming sub-segment in India, with market size of $60 billion in 2021, is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29 percent between 2021 and 2025 to reach $169 billion. According to the study, with 300 million users worldwide, gaming app usage time increased by 21% during the first statewide shutdown. Although the gaming industry may benefit from the increase, gamers end up paying a hefty price because excessive gaming can lead to several addiction-related and mental and physical health problems.

Even though players and young people have access to thousands of games that can be downloaded, there is a need to expand the selection of games. Due to the rapid adoption of digital technology, the online gaming business in India is expanding at an astounding rate. According to a Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) report, revenues more than doubled between 2014 and 2018, hitting $43.8 billion by fiscal year (FY18). In India, the number of online gamers increased by 20% from July to January 2021, surpassing 50 cores. Ninety percent of gamers play on their cellphones or tablets. India was the source of 17% of all downloads of mobile games worldwide in the first three quarters of 2020. Indians now spend 218 minutes playing games as opposed to 151 minutes before lockdown, according to a BARC & Nielsen analysis. Gamers’ growing popularity has led to increased attention from entrepreneurs and investors. There are now more than 400 gaming start-ups in India, and investors plan to invest over $173 million there in the calendar year(CY2020). The Information Technology Act of 2000’s guidelines for internet intermediary compliances and cyber law due diligence are not being followed by websites for online gaming, and lotteries. In a similar vein, virtually every online poker site in India violates one or more Indian laws.  Even though India’s online gaming market is growing, compliance with regulations must be upheld. There is little indication that the Indian online gaming and gambling sectors are operating their businesses there while taking regulations into mind. The issue has been brought before the Indian Supreme Court as a result of numerous legal proceedings and situations. However, there is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of the current legal proceedings before the Indian Supreme Court.    

In India, real money online gambling must be regulated because it accounts for a sizable portion of the country’s gaming market. According to a Statista survey conducted in 2021, the value of real money gaming in the Indian gaming sector is currently  $49 billionand is expected to rise by $11 billion by 2025. Several concerns, including addiction, user overspending, mental and social problems, etc., have also arisen as a result of the rise in real money gaming. It is therefore more crucial than ever to have appropriate legislation in place for this area of the gaming business given the problems related to real money online gambling.

The union government should create an online gaming commission, according to clause 3 of the bill. This commission would have the power to regulate the operations of the online gaming sector, produce reports on issues about the sector, recommend actions to stop illegal online gaming, grant, suspend, and revoke licenses for online gaming websites, and set fees for license applications and renewals. The Sports (Online Gaming and Prevention of Fraud) Bill, 2018, which contains a similar section, was not enacted by the parliament due to the bill’s unclear language.  Clause 3 of the 2022 bill is problematic because it would be problematic for the center and the state to establish a central agency to control online gaming without being clear about what kind of game it would be regulating. Gambling and betting are state matters under rule 34, which grants states the authority to enact legislation on these topics. However, the central government is authorized by Article 249 of the Constitution to enact laws that serve the interests of the whole country about issues on the state’s list. However, even if the union government used this authority to control gaming and betting, it would just create further uncertainty given the vagueness and ambiguities in the bill. 

Since several states have already passed legislation regulating internet gambling, the commission’s proposed rules may only make matters more complicated. 

Because there is nothing about a licensing policy for real money online gambling in the law’s norms and rules, the bill also lacks clear guidelines for a licensing regime. Even while establishing a commission under the jurisdiction of the union government is a step in the right direction toward uniting the online gaming industry, the existing legislation being implemented by individual states has to be moderated and the bill itself needs to be more clear. By studying the nations that have central authority in this industry and developing appropriate rules and regulations, India might likewise set up a national gaming commission.

The 2022 law includes no mention of privacy, data protection, Know Your Customer (KYC), grievance redress methods, or several societal and mental health issues. It is essential to address these issues because the nation’s gaming industry is booming. A robust regulatory environment would help to reduce illegal behavior and speed up firm expansion, which would also help to stimulate the economy. We also recommend to the Indian Government and State Governments make effective rules to resolve such online gaming problems. There are many ways to find/ stole data of users by an attacker via online ways. 

It is a major challenge in front of us and the government. Additionally, these rules should provide data protection for users in public network systems. There will define the age of users to play such games for the new future of this country. Furthermore, parent to aware their children of the bad effect of online games. The government should educate the public about online games and their losses via a variety of media, including counseling, dramas, movies, and other forms of entertainment.                  
 

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