Lok Sabha Question No. 2173 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Ban of Online Games
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Andimuthu Raja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2173

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2023

## BAN OF ONLINE GAMES

## 2173.   SHRI A. RAJA:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  many  youngsters  are  committing  suicides  after  losing  money  in gambling during online games and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether the Government would bring a model legislation to ban online games in the country especially when some States have already taken the initiative and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  any  steps  would  also  be  taken  to  ban  advertisements  promoting  online  games  in  TV  and  social media, as they are clearly aiming at gambling and not game of skill;
- (d)   if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)  the efforts made to discourage and desist youths becoming addicted to online games and thereby inter loss of money and productivity?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):  The  Government is cognizant of the risks posed by online gaming addiction and also online gaming that involves  gambling.  The  Central  Government  has  put  a  framework  and    guardrails  to  prescribe  and  regulate permissible  online  games  and  on  6.4.2023,  the  Central  Government,  in  exercise  of  its  powers  under  the Information  Technology  Act,  2000,  has  notified  amendment  to  the  Information  Technology  (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Through this framework, to be verified and declared as permissible online game in Indian cyberspace, such online game shall be free from wagering on outcome and does not cause user harm and addiction.

Data related to crimes, including cybercrimes, are maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), based  on  data  reported  by  State  Police  and  other  law  enforcement  agencies.  As  per  information  provided  by NCRB, no specific  data  on  the  incident  of  suicides  after  losing  money  in  online  gambling  is  reported  to  or maintained by it. State- and Union-territory-wise details of cases registered under the sub-category 'Abetment to suicide (online)' within the category of 'Cybercrimes' is at Annex.

(b) to (e): With regard to the users' harms caused to the Digital Nagriks from online gaming, it is informed that as  per  the  Government of India (Allocation of Business) (Three Hundred and Seventieth Amendment) Rules, 2022  dated  23rd  December  2022,  'Matters  relating  to  online  gaming'  has  been  allocated  to  the  Ministry  of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.

To help achieve the aim at ensuring an Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable Internet for its users and with a view to enable consideration of issues related to online gaming in their totality, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  had  prepared draft amendments  to  the Information Technology  (Intermediary Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code)  Rules,  2021,  made  by  the  Central  Government  in  exercise  of  its powers under the Information Technology Act, 2000. On the draft amendments, the Government has undertaken extensive public consultation on the same to gather feedback for formulating the amendments during JanuaryFebruary 2023.

Following that on 6.4.2023, the Central Government, in exercise of its powers under the Information Technology Act, 2000, has notified amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Under these amended rules, intermediaries have an obligation to not host, publish or advertise online real money game or other online game that is not verified as a permissible online game by selfregulatory body.   To be verified and declared as permissible online real money game, such online real money game shall be free from wagering on outcome and does not cause user harm and addiction. The online gaming self-regulatory body will have to test and verify the online real money game against a framework made by it. Such framework will mandatorily include measures to ensure that such online real money game is not against the nation's interest and also include adequate safeguards against user harms including self-harm and psychological harm, risk of gaming addiction, financial loss and fraud through necessary measures. The amended rules have, thus, put in place an effective legal framework to address the concerns related to online games.

Further, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory, advising the private satellite TV channels,  digital  news  platforms,  social  media  platforms  and  OTT  platforms  to  refrain  from  publishing advertisements of online betting and gambling platforms and/or any of their surrogate products.

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Annex Cases registered under the sub-category 'Abetment of suicide',

## within the category 'cybercrimes'

| S. No.   | State/Union territory                    | 2019   |   2020 |   2021 |
|----------|------------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh                           | 0      |      0 |      1 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 3        | Assam                                    | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 4        | Bihar                                    | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                             | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 6        | Goa                                      | 1      |      0 |      0 |
| 7        | Gujarat                                  | 2      |      2 |      2 |
| 8        | Haryana                                  | 0      |      2 |      0 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh                         | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 10       | Jharkhand                                | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 11       | Karnataka                                | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 12       | Kerala                                   | 0      |      0 |      1 |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh                           | 0      |      2 |      3 |
| 14       | Maharashtra                              | 3      |      3 |      3 |
| 15       | Manipur                                  | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 16       | Meghalaya                                | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 17       | Mizoram                                  | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 18       | Nagaland                                 | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 19       | Odisha                                   | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 20       | Punjab                                   | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 21       | Rajasthan                                | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 22       | Sikkim                                   | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 23       | Tamil Nadu                               | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 24       | Telangana                                | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 25       | Tripura                                  | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh                            | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 27       | Uttarakhand                              | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 28       | West Bengal                              | 1      |      1 |      0 |
| 29       | Andaman and Nicobar Islands              | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 30       | Chandigarh                               | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 31       | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 32       | Delhi                                    | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 33       | Jammu and Kashmir                        | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 34       | Ladakh                                   |        |      0 |      0 |
| 35       | Lakshadweep                              | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 36       | Puducherry                               | 0      |      0 |      0 |
|          | Total                                    | 7      |     10 |     10 |

Source:

National Crime Records Bureau

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