Lok Sabha Question No. 93 (STARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Promotion of Gaming Start-up Ecosystem
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: K. Muraleedharan, Behanan Benny

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.*93

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 8.2.2023

## PROMOTION OF GAMING START-UP ECOSYSTEM

## *93 SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN: SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  the  Government  intends  to  give  any  incentives  to  start-ups  for  promotion  of gaming startup ecosystem and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)    whether  national-level  rules  will  supersede  State-level  legislation  and  end  regulatory fragmentation and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)    the reasons for classifying publishers of online games as intermediaries;
- (d)    whether the Government is considering regulation of content in gaming platforms; and
- (e)    if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  *93  FOR  08.02.2023  REGARDING  PROMOTION  OF  GAMING  START-UP ECOSYSTEM

- ...........

(a):      Government  has supported  development of startup ecosystem  and will continue to nurture fast growing startup ecosystem where thousands of entrepreneurs and startups all over the country have been supported through various startup promotional schemes/ programmes. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) is continuing to support the tech startups  including  those  engaged  in  developing  online  gaming  technology  through  the following initiatives:

-  TIDE 2.0 Scheme: Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0)  Scheme was initiated in the  year 2019 to promote tech entrepreneurship through financial and technical support to incubators engaged in supporting ICT startups using emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, Block-chain, Robotics etc. The Scheme is being implemented through 51 incubators through a three tiered structure with an overarching objective  to  promote  incubation  activities  at  institutes  of  higher  learning  and  premier R&D  organisations. The scheme  is expected to provide incubation support to approximately 2000 tech start-ups with an overall outlay of Rs. 264 Crore over a period of five years.
-  Centre  of  Excellence  on  Gaming,  VFX,  Computer  Vision  &  AI: MeitY  has established  a  Centre  of  Excellence  on  Gaming,  VFX,  Computer  Vision  &  AI  at Hyderabad which is being implemented by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) with  Govt.  of  Telangana  and  Industry  as  key  stakeholders.  The  total  outlay  of  the project is Rs. 19.68 Crore with MeitY's contribution of Rs. 3.5 Crore. The Centre has been branded as IMAGE. IMAGE offers integrated programs, CVLAB and Game Lab, for start-ups to scale up through its incubation facility. The IMAGE accelerator

program  includes  premium  plug  and  play  co-working  space  for  start-ups  and  offers access  to  the  ecosystem  which  comprises  of  IP  owners,  mentors,  investors  and  a platform  to  support  Go-To-Market  strategy.  This  CoE  has  been  made  operational  on 17.02. 2020. So far, 20 start-ups have been onboarded.

-  Domain specific Centres of Excellence: MeitY has envisaged and operationalised 26 Centres  of  Excellence  (CoEs)  in  diverse  areas  of  national  interest  for  driving  selfsufficiency  and  creating  capabilities  to  capture  new  and  emerging  technology  areas. These domain specific CoEs are act as enablers and aid in making India an innovation hub in emerging through democratisation of innovation and realisation of prototypes.
-  SAMRIDH Scheme: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched  the  'Start-up  Accelerator  Programme  of  MeitY  for  Product  Innovation, Development and Growth (SAMRIDH)' in August 2021 with an aim to support existing and upcoming Accelerators to further select and accelerate potential software product based start-ups to scale. The total cost of the scheme is Rs. 99 Crore for a duration of 3 years. A total of 300 startups are to be supported under the SAMRIDH Scheme.
-  Next  Generation  Incubation  Scheme  (NGIS): NGIS  has  been  approved  to  support software product ecosystem and to address a significant portion of National Policy on Software  Product  (NPSP)  2019.  The  Scheme  is  proposed  to  be  launched  from  12 locations  i.e.  Agartala,  Bhilai,  Bhopal,  Bhubaneswar,  Dehradun,  Guwahati,  Jaipur, Lucknow  &  Prayagraj,  Mohali/  Chandigarh,  Patna  &  Vijaywada.  The  Scheme  has solution oriented architecture and aims to handhold 300 Tech Start-ups in Tier-2/3 cities over a period of 3 years with the total budget outlay of Rs. 95.03 Crores.
-  Support for International Patent Protection in E&IT (SIP-EIT) Scheme: Ministry of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (MeitY)  had  initiated  a  scheme  titled 'Support  for  International  Patent  Protection  in  E&IT    (SIP-EIT)    that      encourages international  patent  filing  by Indian

MSMEs  and  start-ups  so  as  to  encourage  innovation  and  recognize  the  value  and capabilities  of  global  IP.    Reimbursement  provided  under  the  scheme  is  upto  a maximum of Rs.15 lakhs per invention or 50% of the total expenses incurred in filing and processing of patent application upto grant whichever is lesser.

-  GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups): Ministry of Electronics and Information  Technology  (MeitY)  has  launched  an  umbrella  program  Digital  IndiaGENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups) to discover, support, grow and make successful startups  in  Tier-II  and  Tier-III  cities  with  emphasis  on  collaborative engagement  among  startups,  government  and  corporates  for  promoting  digitization based on the principals of inclusivity, accessibility, affordability, leading to growth in employment and economic outputs.

(b)  to  (e):  As  per  the  provisions  of  article  246  of  the  Constitution,  State  Legislatures  are competent to legislate on matters enumerated List II (State List) and  List III (Concurrent List) of  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution,  while  Parliament  is  competent  to  legislate  on matters enumerated in List I (Union List) and the List III.  Entry 34 of the State List 'Betting and gambling'  and by virtue of  the  said  entry,  States  have  legislated  on  matters  related  to betting and gambling.

On the other hand, Parliament has enacted the Information Technology Act, 2000 ('IT Act'), the competence for which is relatable to entries 31 ('telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other  like  forms  of  communication'), 42  ('Inter-State  trade  and  commerce') and  97  ('Any other matter not enumerated in List II or List III'). Clause (c) od subs-section (2) of section 79 of the IT Act provides that the exemption from liability of an intermediary for any thirdparty information, data or communication link made available or hosted by it shall apply if it observes due diligence while discharging its duties under the Act and such other guidelines as the  Central  Government  may  prescribe  by  rules  in  this  behalf.  Further,  sub-section  (2)  of section  69A  of  the  IT  Act  provides  for  the  Central  Government  to  prescribe  by  rules  the procedure and safeguard subject to which blocking for access by the public may be carried out. In exercise of powers under the said provisions, Central Government has prescribed the Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code)  Rules, 2021 ('IT Rules, 2021'), which provide for due diligence to be observed by intermediaries while discharging their duties under the Act. These rules are not in derogation of laws enacted by State Legislatures.

With  regard  to  classifying  of  online  games  as  intermediaries,  it  is  informed  that  the  term 'intermediary' is defined in clause (w) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the IT Act, and as per sub-rule (2) of rule 2 of the IT Rules, 2021, this term has the same meaning in the IT Rules as well.  The  said  definition  does  not  include  publishers  within  the  meaning  of  the  term 'intermediary'.

In the context of rapid growth in online games, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has prepared draft amendments to the IT Rules, 2021 relating to online gaming, and  initiated  extensive  consultation  on  the  same.  The  said  draft  amendments  have  been formulated  to  provide  for  due  diligence  to  be  observed  by  the  intermediaries  in  this connection.

********