Reading List: The Impact of the Draft Online Gaming Rules

We’re gearing up for our “Impact of the Draft Online Gaming Rules” event on January 13th in Delhi*. 

It’s no secret that India’s gaming and gambling regulations are a convoluted, complex mess. These rules are a first attempt at untying that knot to ease regulatory conflicts and strengthen the future of India’s online gaming industry. The question is: how well do they address the weaknesses of regulation past? At this event, we’ll unpack the strengths of the rules and where they can improve.

Event: Impact of the Draft Online Gaming Rules
Date: January 13 (Friday), 2023
Venue: Gulmohar hall, India Habitat Centre, Delhi

We’ll cover key issues of the rules across the day, like:

• Legality and the definitions of gaming and gambling | 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm
• Impact of the rules on the online gaming industry and distribution | 2:15 pm to 3:00 pm
• Self-regulation of the online gaming industry | 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm
• Consumer protection measures | 3:45 pm to 4:30 pm

Please apply to attend here.

Registrations for this event will close shortly, so if you haven’t applied to attend already, please do so soon.

*This article was updated at 11:51 am on 23/1/2023 to include MediaNama’s post-event coverage of the rules. 

Reading list 

• First up: The proposed amendments to regulate online gaming intermediaries. [PDF] 
• Getting to the point: Our succinct summary of the rules and what they cover. [Read]
• Talk of the town: Our round-up of the initial (and largely positive) industry feedback on the rules. [Read]
• Between the lines: We outline eight major gaps that the rules need to address. [Read]
• A farrago of rules?: Gaming and technology lawyer Jay Sayta outlines his top five concerns with the rules. [Read]
• Back to basics: Our Editor Nikhil Pahwa’s quick take on what an intermediary really is—and whether gaming platforms should be considered as one. [Read]
• The down low: We break down why India’s gaming and gambling laws are as muddled as they are—and how this impacts gamers and companies across the country. [Read]
• Argumentative Indians*: We had our online gaming event on January 13th (the one mentioned above)—here’s a round-up of all the questions our 100+ attendees butted heads over on the rules:
  • Should the rules’ definition of online gaming be changed? [Read]
  • Can online gaming platforms be classified as intermediaries? [Read]
  • Do the rules tread on state powers to regulate online gaming? [Read]
  • How exactly will the rules impact the industry? [Read]
  • Will the rules’ KYC clauses hurt the online gaming industry? [Read]
  • Can we really trust self-regulatory bodies for the online gaming industry to be independent? [Read]
• Longer reads*: We spoke to industry experts and tracked recent developments to figure out how the rules impact online gaming companies:
  • Where do the rules work in terms of supporting the industry—and where is there room for change? [Read]
  • How does the self-regulatory framework work and will it sufficiently prevent consumer harms? [Read]
  • How big is the online gaming industry and who’s playing the most? [Read]
• Industry responses*: Online gaming is far more complex than the rules make it out to be, as industry responses show:
  • The E-sports industry wants the government to clearly differentiate between online gaming and e-sports. [Read]
  • Following suit, the video game industry wants to be distinct from real-money online games. [Read]
  • Some industry members also want to be allowed to self-certify games, and for KYC norms to be relaxed. [Read]
• Everything else: Click here to dive through our many years of reportage on the evolution of online gaming and online gambling policy in India. 
• Internet Freedom Foundation enters the chat: Click here to read IFF’s initial comments and concerns with the rules. [Read]
• An unexpected twist*: On January 17th, the Indian government extended the deadline to submit feedback on these gaming rules from January 17th to 25th. It also uploaded a new draft of the proposed amendments—which inexplicably included a provision that outlaws platforms from hosting news dubbed to be “fake” by government agencies. Here’s our early coverage:
  • 5 things that are wrong with the amendments. [Read]
  • Why the amendments are undemocratic. [Read]
    • Digital media consortium DigiPub’s statement on the rules. [Read]
    • Editors Guild of India’s statement on the rules. [Read]
    • News Broadcasters and Digital Association statement on the rules. [Read]
  • How might government “fact-checking” play out? [Read]
  • 5 times the government restricted digital media over the last few years. [Read]

Important:

• Registration does not guarantee attendance. In case you fit our mandate for the curated audience, we’ll send you a confirmation by January 12.
• Your contact information will never be shared with anyone outside of MediaNama.
• MediaNama’s subscriber-members get priority and guaranteed access to all our events and activities. You can subscribe to MediaNama to support our work.

*This article was updated at 11:55 am on 23/1/2023 to include MediaNama’s post-event coverage of the rules. It will be updated continuously with our latest coverage of the proposed amendments.

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