What’s in today’s article?
- Why in news?
- What are the different types of online gaming?
- How big is the online gaming market in India?
- What are the challenges faced by online gaming sector?
- What are the steps taken by the government to regulate this sector?
Why in news?
- According to an official gazette, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is now the nodal ministry regulating online gaming.
- MeitY will soon publish rules for online gaming platforms and start public consultation on the regulations.
What are the different types of online gaming?
e-Sports:
- These are video games that were played privately or on consoles in video game stores in the 1990s, but are currently played online in a structured manner between professional players, either individually or in teams.
Fantasy sports
- These are games in which the player selects a team of real sports players from several teams and earns points based on how well the players perform in real life. For example, Dream11.
Online casual games:
- These could be skill-based, where the outcome is heavily impacted by mental or physical skill or chance-based, where the outcome is heavily influenced by some randomised activity, such as rolling a die.
- A game of chance may be considered as gambling if players bet money or anything of monetary value.
How big is the online gaming market in India?
- The online gaming industry grew exponentially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach $5 billion in 2025.
- The industry in the country grew at a CAGR of 38% between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8% in China and 10% in the US.
- India’s percentage of new paying users (NPUs) in gaming has been the fastest growing in the world for two consecutive years, at 40% in 2020 and reaching 50% in 2021.
What are the challenges faced by online gaming sector?
Lack of regulatory oversight:
- Online gaming exists in a regulatory grey area and there is no comprehensive legislation with respect to its legality or its boundaries.
- Also, there is currently no regulatory framework to govern various aspects of online gaming companies such as –
- Having a grievance redressal mechanism, Protection of data and intellectual property rights, and Prohibiting misleading advertisements.
Online gaming is a state subject (Under Entry 34, List II ‘Gambling’ and ‘Betting’):
- However, state governments have stated that it is extremely difficult for them to implement some restrictions, such as geo-blocking specific apps or websites within their state’s borders.
- Also, state governments (unlike the Centre), lack the necessary blocking authority to issue blocking orders for offshore betting sites.
- There is also concern that legislation passed in one state may not be relevant in another, resulting in inconsistencies across the country.
Societal concerns:
- A number of reported incidences of persons losing big amounts of money on online games, resulting to suicides in various parts of the country.
What are the steps taken by the government to regulate this sector?
- An inter-ministerial task force was set up by the MeitY to propose contours of a national-level legislation to regulate online gaming. It submitted its report in October 2022.
- It suggested that MeitY may act as the nodal ministry to regulate online gaming, except for the e-sports category on which the Department of Sports can take the lead.
- Among other things, it also recommended:
- the creation of a central regulatory body for the sector,
- clearly defining what games of skill and chance are and
- bringing online gaming under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
- In December 2022, the Union Minitry of Finance announced that the online gaming would attract 28 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has been made the nodal ministry regulating online gaming.
- These decisions are in line with the government’s initiative to push for the growth of the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) sector and making India a global hub for online gaming.
Q1) How big is the online gaming industry in India?
India’s gaming market, which stood at $2.6 billion in 2022, is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27 per cent to reach $8.6 billion by 2027.
Q2) Who regulates online gaming in India?
Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is now the nodal ministry regulating online gaming.
Source: MeitY becomes nodal ministry for online gaming | Indian Express | CNBC
Last updated on June, 2025
→ UPSC Notification 2025 was released on 22nd January 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims Result 2025 is out now for the CSE held on 25 May 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims Question Paper 2025 and Unofficial Prelims Answer Key 2025 are available now.
→ UPSC Calendar 2026 is released on 15th May, 2025.
→ The UPSC Vacancy 2025 were released 1129, out of which 979 were for UPSC CSE and remaining 150 are for UPSC IFoS.
→ UPSC Mains 2025 will be conducted on 22nd August 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims 2026 will be conducted on 24th May, 2026 & UPSC Mains 2026 will be conducted on 21st August 2026.
→ The UPSC Selection Process is of 3 stages-Prelims, Mains and Interview.
→ UPSC Result 2024 is released with latest UPSC Marksheet 2024. Check Now!
→ UPSC Toppers List 2024 is released now. Shakti Dubey is UPSC AIR 1 2024 Topper.
→ Also check Best IAS Coaching in Delhi