The government is leaning towards putting time limits on gaming platforms. This will oppose the certifications of these platforms being permissible or non-permissible through the SRO (Self-Regulatory Organisations).
According to officials’ statements, the limit on time and money spent on these gaming platforms is done to curb its addiction among children and youth. During a meeting of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, a consensus on this method, which was also adopted by China, surfaced. During this meeting, various aspects of the latest information technology rules 2021 were discussed.
An IT Ministry said that imposing limits on time and money spent is a better alternative to certifying games as permissible or non-permissible through SRO.
Market Estimates And Official Statements On Imposing Limits
Despite all the claims, there is a high possibility all the (Gaming) SROs will be formed under industry influence. An official mentioned that this won’t be in favor of policies as many youngsters are involved in the matter. According to a market estimate, in 2023, around 9.5 billion users downloaded gaming apps on their mobile devices in India.
As per the estimates, India has the largest gaming market worldwide, with almost 570 million active gamers. A joint report from Winzo, a non-profit firm Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC), was released earlier in March. The report mentioned that about a quarter of these active gamers (roughly 140 million users) have paid for the games or have invested some money in them.
If this rule is successfully imposed on gaming companies, they will have to adhere to the limits on time and money spent by youngsters.
More On The New Initiative
Another official stated in his statement that the new mechanism to keep an eye on time limits and money spent should be easy to implement. He also mentioned that they are trying to work with the industry in the matter and working to find the best possible solution.
When the gaming industry was notified about this new rule in April 2023, the IT Ministry gave them a time period of 90 days to form an SRO. The ministry stated that if the gaming companies fail to do so, the government would further form its own SRO regulating this matter.
Although there were three proposals in favor of the government creating its own SRO, it didn’t go with it. Afterward, IT Ministry officials said that all three proposals were industry-backed and that they had to reject them.
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