The online gaming bill is welcome, but more is necessary
Undoubtedly a positive development towards the creation of a safe gaming environment in India, the Online Gaming (Regulation) Bill, 2022 that was recently introduced in the Lok Sabha can be criticized for missing a lot of important parts.
The bill was tabled in parliament on April 1 this year by MP adv. Dean Kuriakose seeking the establishment of a national-level Online Gaming Commission by the Central Government with powers to formulate the rules pertaining to gaming in cyberspace, including online casino games and other real money gaming (RMG) genres.
The seven-member Commission will also be mandated to issue, suspend and cancel licenses for online gaming servers and websites. Operating unlicensed gaming servers or platforms will be punishable with up to three years of imprisonment and a fine, with offenses against the law being defined as cognisable and bailable.
According to the proposed bill, the Commission will have the general power to produce, in consultation with the Central Government, the rules for obtaining a gaming license and the conditions and restrictions for persons to be employed by a licensee or to play games on a licensed platform. The bill mentions age restrictions for participants and restrictions on the provision of credit facilities by operators, as well as “any other matter which is required to be or may be prescribed”.
Thus, the Commission “will be in a position to regulate the industry by setting standards accordingly”, as the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill says. Nevertheless, the proposed gaming regulation act could have provided more details in the framework within which the specific rules are to be subsequently created. This is mostly valid and important for the field of customer protection and KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.
Customer accounts and registration systems should be based on Aadhar cards
Indian online gaming regulation should make use of the country’s unique Aadhar digital identification system to enhance safety and customer protection. A mandatory use prescribed by the law of the Aadhar card for online casino and real money gaming as the one and only acceptable identifier for creating and using customer accounts and for platform registration systems can bring a number of benefits for the users and the sector as a whole.
One main purpose for the application of Aadhar ID in the field of gaming will be for the verification of the age of the persons wishing to play and effectively limiting the access of minors to real money gaming. Identity verification and KYC will be simplified and users will not need to create separate accounts on every gaming site they choose to play on.
A national-wide self-exclusion register can be built on the basis of Aadhar digital identification which will enable gamers to immediately exclude themselves from all gaming websites in India at the press of a button on any casino or RMG platform.
A similar system can be created to allow players to set their own deposit limit that will be observed across all RMG platforms and users will be able to easily control their spending. The system can be enhanced to show gamers the current state of their deposits, withdrawals, winnings and losses combined for all websites they have visited, and help them track their overall financial status at a single glance.
As a whole, with the digital age just starting, India’s online gaming legislation needs to be useful for at least 10 years ahead, and linking regulations with the national Aadhar digital ID system is a step to guarantee that.
Other aspects of the online gaming regulation bill that need attention
A main concern among analysts of the proposed Online Gaming Regulation Bill, 2022, is its constitutionality. The bill aims to give national jurisdiction over all gaming to a centralized commission, while the Union Constitution has granted the power to regulate gambling, betting and games of chance to the individual states. The solution to this potential conflict lies in the hands of parliament and the political will of the parties.
Another concern is with the fact that the proposed law makes no distinction between real money gaming and casual games which have a lesser, if any, need of regulation and should not be subjected to the same licensing requirements as the RMG genre.
A thoughtful and successful regulation over the online gaming sector is the need of the hour to grant India a safe gaming environment while allowing its industry to develop its true potential.
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