The government may be planning to introduce “Chinese” rules for gamers and why this is good news

The Indian government is reportedly considering imposing time and spending limits on online and real-money gaming to address growing concerns about gaming addiction among children and young adults. According to a report published in the Economic Times: “The government is moving towards imposing time and spending limits on online and real money gaming to tackle gaming addiction among children and young adults, sources told ET. “Consensus on this method, which has also been adopted in China, emerged during recent internal meetings of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, where various aspects of the Information Technology Regulations 2021 were discussed,” the report said.

According to an ET report, MeitY officials consider time limits to be a more effective method than relying on self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to certify games as permissible or impermissible.

“There is a real possibility that the gaming industry will influence any SRO that is created,” an IT Ministry official told ET, raising concerns about potential conflict of interest when young children are involved.

What are the rules of the game in China
In November 2019, gamers under 18 were banned from playing games for more than 90 minutes a day or three hours on public holidays in China. These rules were further tightened in August 2021, with under-18s only allowed to play for one hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

What could be the new gaming rules in India
If time and spend limits are implemented in India, there will need to be mechanisms in place on the part of gaming companies to ensure compliance. “Mechanisms to control play time and expenses should be easy to implement,” another official told ET, pointing to collaboration with the industry to find appropriate solutions. One option mentioned is to base spending limits on a player’s past spending and age.

The move comes in the wake of the April 2023 IT Rules amendment introduced by the Ministry of IT, which gives gaming companies and industry bodies 90 days to set up an SRO. However, the government reserved the right to create its own SRO if the industry’s proposals are deemed unsuitable.

The ET report highlighted that the Ministry rejected all three proposals it received for setting up an SRO, citing industry influence in all the proposals. These proposals included those submitted by the Esports Players Welfare Association (EPWA), a collaboration between the Indian Esports Federation (EGF) and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) and the All India Gaming Federation.