India's IT Ministry last week notified new rules to regulate online gaming. These rules have largely been welcomed by the real money gaming industry, but they lack clarity in some key areas. For example, the rules prohibit games that involve wagering. But it is not clear what constitutes wagering. The rules also do not differentiate between games of skill vs games of chance, which is a debate that surfaces in all court cases involving real money games. India's IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to clarify some of the confusion around the rules. Chandrasekhar's tweet does not have any legal standing, but it could help gaming platforms and other stakeholders understand the rules better. Why the rules don't define wagering What did the IT Minister say: Real money games that involve prize money are permitted, but real money games that involve wagering are not. Wagering is not defined in these particular rules because "wager is a well-defined expression in Contract Law and [court] decisions have clearly held what wager means." Why was this clarification needed: The rules expressly prohibit real money games that involve wagering on any outcome. But since the rules do not define what wagering is, it leaves room for questions on what games are prohibited and whether wagering on both games of skills and games of chance is prohibited. As noted by gaming lawyer Jay Sayta in this piece, there are multiple games of skill such as horse racing and daily fantasy sports that involve wagering,…
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