| |APRIL-MAY 202319of others. This cannot be at the cost of the life of youngsters. It (online gambling) is dangerous".Finally, on the first working day of the new year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released draft amendments to the IT intermediary rules 2021 pertaining to Online Gaming for public consultations. The new amendments are set to cover various aspects of online gaming.RegulationAs per the new draft amendments, the online gaming intermediaries must first register with the concerned self-regulatory body and display the certificate of such registration on their website, mobile-based application, or both before hosting, publishing, or advertising an online game. The gaming portal will be given three months to adhere to the new registration rules from the commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules.The online gaming intermediary also needs to publish a random number generation certificate and a no-bot certificate for each online game offered by the portal, along with relevant details of the same on its website, mobile-based application, or both. The certificate needs to be from a reputed certifying body. The draft amendments also propose observing the following additional due diligence. The rules and regulations, privacy policy, terms of services, and user agreements of the online gaming intermediary shall inform the user about:(i) All the online games offered by the online gaming intermediary, along with the policy related to withdrawal or refund of the deposit made with the expectation of earning winnings, the manner of determination and distribution of such winnings, and the fees and other charges payable by the user for each such online game(ii) The risk of financial loss and addiction associated with the online game.(iii) The know-your-customer procedure followed by the online gaming intermediary for registration of the account of a user(iv) The measures taken for the protection of deposit made by a user and the framework of such a self-regulatory body of which the online gaming intermediary may be a member of Physical Presence in India Online gaming companies can no longer function as an entity alien to the country, as the new amendments mandate the companies to have a physical office in India. Furthermore, in addition to appointing a nodal contact person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and a Grievance Officer who needs to be resident in India, the government also mandates the appointment of a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), who shall be "A key managerial personnel or such other senior employee of the online gaming intermediary and resident in India". A CCO's responsibilities will largely be about ensuring compliance with the Act and the rules made under the new amendment. The CCO will also be liable in any proceedings relating to any relevant third-party information/data or communication link made available or hosted by the online gaming intermediary. S/he should also coordinate 24/7 with law enforcement agencies and their officers to ensure compliance with their orders or requisitions.Furthermore, the new draft amendment also includes measures to verify customer identification and ensure the security of the information collected. It restricts the intermediary from using the information received for verification for any other purpose. The ministry has also developed frameworks to ensure that gaming portals systematically address customer complaints. Even though the regulations in the segment are quite late, it seems to be moving in the right direction.
< Page 9 | Page 11 >