The Indian government is considering imposing time and spending limits on online and real money games to address gaming addiction among children and young adults. Economic Times reported that this measure appeared during recent internal meetings of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, where different aspects of the Information Technology Rules of 2021 were discussed. Similar measures have been adopted in China.
According to an official from the IT ministry, the consensus is that time limits are a more effective approach than certifying games as permissible or non-permissible through self-regulatory organizations (SROs). “Despite claims, it is a very real possibility that any or all (gaming) SROs which are formed will be industry-influenced. That is not a desirable setup for policy decisions, especially when so many young children are involved,” the official said.
Market estimates suggest that India is the largest gaming market globally, with nearly 570 million active gamers. Approximately 140 million of these gamers engage in real money transactions, according to a joint report by real money gaming firm WinZO and the Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC) released in March this year. Additionally, Indian users downloaded over 9.5 billion gaming apps on their mobile devices in 2023.
If the rule to impose time and spending limits is applied, gaming companies will need to establish mechanisms to ensure compliance. For instance, the daily spending limit for a player could be determined based on their past expenditures and age, another official suggested.
“The mechanisms (to control or check the time and money spent) should be fairly easy to implement. We will work with the industry to find the best possible solution,” the official stated.
The gaming industry rules that were advised in April 2023 through an amendment to the Information Technology Rules of 2021, the IT ministry had given gaming companies 90 days to form an SRO. Failure to do so would result in the government forming its own SRO. However, senior IT ministry officials warned that an SRO influenced by gaming companies or industry bodies would not be accepted.
Despite receiving three proposals to set up SROs, the IT ministry did not approve any, citing industry influence as the reason. The proposals came from the Esports Players Welfare Association (EPWA), the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) backed by the Esports Games Federation (EGF), and the All India Gaming Federation. All three were deemed “industry-backed” and thus unacceptable to the government.