The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday released a new set of rules for online gaming which ban any game that involves betting and wagering.

Multiple self-regulatory organisations (SROs) will be set up which will be responsible for declaring online games permissible on the basis of whether games offer wagering.

The new rules define ‘online game’ as “a game that is offered on the internet and is accessible by a user through a computer resource or an intermediary”.

The IT Ministry has passed the IT Rules, 2023 which mandate the establishment of a self-regulatory body for the registration & regulation of online gaming platforms as “intermediaries” which is defined as one that “offers one or more than one online game”.

The self-regulatory organisations (SROs) will comprise industry representatives, educationists, and other experts such as child experts, psychology experts, etc. To begin with, the government will notify three SROs, but can add more later.

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar told journalists that online games involving wagering or betting will fall foul of new online gaming rules.

“We are dealing with a framework which allows for all online gaming to be determined as permissible or not, by an SRO and there will be multiple SROs,” he added.