NLU Prepping Up Gaming Regulation Recommendations, To Submit To MeitY Post Elections

The central government is now reportedly looking to incorporate an independent regulator that will allow only registered entities to offer e-gaming services in the country.

As per an ET report, the National Law University (NLU) Delhi, along with the industry body E-Gaming Federation (EGF), is consulting the industry stakeholders to determine the direction of the gaming regulations henceforth.

The development comes months after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) scrapped the idea of self-regulatory organisations for online gaming earlier in January.

As per the report, NLU is expected to submit its recommendations to MeitY after the general elections.

NLU assistant professor Raghav Pandey told the publication that the institution is organising multi-part round table discussions to consult various stakeholders.

“While regulations are required for better functioning of the industry, a balance between growth and regulation should be maintained, which can only be ensured through a collaborative consultation process between the industry, other stakeholders, and regulators, and comprehensive research about the issues that could require regulation,” he was quoted as saying.

In 2023, MeitY had proposed a self-regulatory mechanism for online gaming companies in the draft online gaming rules, under the proposed IT Rules, 2023. As per the proposed amendments, the online gaming intermediaries had to ensure due diligence while discharging their duties, including reasonable efforts to ensure users do not host, display, upload, publish, transmit or share an online game that did not conform to local laws, including law on gambling or betting.

The Indian online gaming ecosystem has witnessed significant uncertainties over the last few years, which included the 28% GST introduced by the government last year. This led to several restructuring efforts, including layoffs, at companies like MPL, Hike, and Spartan Poker, among others.

There were reports last month that the union government was planning to bring in a regulatory framework to oversee the online gaming industry. Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar had reportedly said that the proposals submitted by online gaming players for the self-regulatory body had “too much of an industry component”. 

Amid the regulatory challenges and impact of GST changes, funding in the gaming space fell sharply to around $209 Mn in 2023 from $576 Mn in 2022.