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Indian Parliament’s upper house Rajya Sabha cleared the Online Gaming Bill on Thursday, August 21, changing the landscape of online gaming in the cournry. Earlier, Lok Sabha passed the bill on August 20, amid ruckus by the opposition. The bill imposes restrictions and punishment on money-based online games. With the bill highly likely to become a law with the approval of the President of India in the upcoming days, online gaming organisations will be required to shut their activities as severe penalties will be imposed on the companies, promoters and individuals who will be involved in contraventions. The legislation’s objective is to curb addiction and misleading promotion related to the online gaming sector.
However, the bill, presented by Ashwini Vaishnaw, endorses eSports and online social gaming. The Bill’s “Prohibitions” clause reads, “No person shall offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise indulge or engage in the offering of online money game and online money gaming service.” As per the “Offences and Penalties” clause, service providers found offering real money games could be handed three years of imprisonment and a penalty of upto INR 1 crore. Endorsement of such platforms will also include two years of jail and a fine of INR 50 lakh.
Indian government defended Online Gaming Bill
The Indian government has defended the bill as it highlighted social and financial harms caused by online money games’ platforms. “The proliferation of online money games…offering monetary returns against user deposits has led to serious social, financial, psychological and public health harms, particularly among young individuals and economically disadvantaged groups,” said a government official.
Cricket, which is the most popular sport in the country, will be impacted as Dream11 is Team India’s principal sponsor. The popular fantasy app pays INR 359 crore while My11Circle holds IPL fantasy rights valued INR 625 crore over five years.
