Govt have a lot to finalise regarding the egaming framework

The union government is drawing up an extensive framework to regulate online gaming companies including proposals for time-bound retention of specific user data and robust grievance redressal mechanisms, senior government officials told the Economic Times.

Final stages: An inter-ministerial task force with secretaries of finance, home, IT, sports and youth affairs, as well as officials from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and Niti Aayog are working on the rules, expected to be out soon, sources said.

“We are in the initial stages of discussions. A nodal ministry which will administer the rules is yet to be finalised,” one official said, adding that “it must be a light-touch framework which co-exists with the regulations that states such as Rajasthan and Karnataka have already developed for their jurisdiction.”

Light touch: Pointing to gaming being a very nascent sector, the official noted that the government does not “wish to go for over-regulation and stifle innovation in the area.” Among the approaches being debated is including the gaming sector under the purview of the Information Technology Rules.

“With social media intermediaries, there are now defined guidelines of dos and don’ts. The (IT) ministry has emergency powers which it can invoke under various sections of the IT Act. We must look at including those for the gaming sector as well,” a person involved in the discussions said, as reported by ET.