Govt to discuss draft gaming rules with schools, parents & teachers this week

The government is likely to meet associations of schools, parents and teachers later this week to discuss its draft gaming rules, the impact of online gaming on children and ways to curtail their gaming hours online, sources in the know told ET.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will later also meet with non-government associations, policy groups as well as doctors, including psychologists, to discuss various aspects of online gaming, the sources added.

These closed-door meetings are expected to discuss the rules proposed by the IT ministry in the draft gaming rules released earlier this month, apart from larger issues such as addiction to online games in children, the time spent on such games and their impact on children's mental health, the sources said.


"We are also looking at the larger issue of addiction. While we have asked the industry to take the lead and form an SRO (self-regulatory organisation) to deal with these issues for now, we will need laws to deal with violations. These inputs will be considered when drafting the Digital India Act," a senior government official said.

The draft rules for online gaming have proposed an SRO for online gaming firms and a mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) verification of players. It also requires gaming companies to have a physical office in India.

ET reported on January 4 that the government was also likely to introduce provisions such as limiting the number of hours per session a child can play a game, and barring users below 18 from making in-game purchases, in the upcoming Digital India Act.

The draft rules are part of proposed amendments to the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, or the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2021.