Government of India to ban three kinds of online games, says Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
The government of India has already made the framework to ban three kinds of games, and will soon be implementing it. Online games will now have to be cleared by certain SROs or Self Regulatory Organisations, within 90 days from the announcement of the regulations
The government of India has already made the framework to ban three kinds of games, and will soon be implementing it. Online games will now have to be cleared by certain SROs or Self Regulatory Organisations, within 90 days from the announcement of the regulations
The Union Minister for Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has announced that India is set to ban three kinds of games in the country.
Although Minister Chandrasekhar did not refer to it while speaking to the press, the announcement comes at the heel of the exposure of a massive conversion racket that was using online games as a platform to cajole kids into converting.
Popularly known as the Gaming Conversion Racket, the scandal involves Shahnawaz Khan, who is the main accused, and Abdul Rehman, a maulvi at a mosque in Ghaziabad. The two perpetrators would prey upon children in online gaming lobbies and get them to convert to a certain religion
Related Articles
Government of India bans three kinds of games
Chandrasekhar informed ANI that the government has already developed a plan for the upcoming regulations. He outlined three specific game categories that are set to be prohibited.
The minister said, “For the first time we have prepared a framework regarding online gaming, in that we will not allow 3 types of games in the country. Games that involve betting or can be harmful to the user and that involve a factor of addiction will be banned in the country.”
Nevertheless, he did not disclose the criteria that will determine the classification of games within each of the mentioned categories. He asserted that the subsequent types of games will face a ban in India – games that involve betting, games can be harmful to the user, and games that involve a factor of addiction.
Formation of SROs
The minister stated that self-regulatory organisations, responsible for approving games that comply with regulations, need to be established within 90 days from the date the regulations are announced.
During this interim period, while waiting for the formation of SROs, the government will assume the responsibility of determining which games are permissible and which are not.
BGMI Possibly Getting Banned
With discussions around a complete and robust framework to decide which games will be allowed and which ones won’t, there is a very good possibility that BGMI or Battlegrounds Mobile India may get banned yet again. Along with this, several betting apps, even if they were able to get classified as games of skill, will also get banned.
The three classifications that Minister Chandrasekhar spoke of are actually too broad to make any sort of a guess, even an educated one. However, one thing is for sure – in the next couple of months, some of the most downloaded applications from Google Play Store and Apple App Store will cease to exist.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
also read
Apple's News service hits 100 million monthly active users, App Store sales rise
Apple App Store customers spent more than $1.4 billion in the App Store between Christmas and New Year.
The dark side of online gaming: From people in debt to ruined families, online gaming in India needs to be regulated
There have been many instances where people have ruined themselves financially and even died by suicide because they were addicted to online gambling and online gaming. The only way to stop this is by regulating the industry as we regulate regular gambling.
Deep diving into the future of the online gaming industry in India
Online gaming in India has a ton of potential as an industry in India. However, it also faces some massive challenges as well.