‘Online Actual Cash Video games Are A Menace’

‘There are instances of suicides, and middle-class households dropping their complete household financial savings.’

IMAGE: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks within the Lok Sabha, August 20, 2025. Photograph: Sansad TV/Video Grab/ANI Photo

The authorities’s makes an attempt at partaking with the gaming business to create options, reminiscent of a self-regulatory physique or transparency in algorithms, in order that rising situations of dependancy to on-line actual cash video games may very well be curbed, didn’t yield any outcomes over the previous three-four years, Union Minister for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw tells Aashish Aryan/ Business Standard in an unique interview.

What is the federal government’s intent behind the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025?

The on-line gaming sector contains three segments, particularly e-sports, on-line social gaming, and real-money video games.

Of these three, the Bill goals to advertise two segments of e-sports and social gaming.

We want to make India a game-making hub.

The nation’s inventive energies, cultural richness, technological and design capabilities can be harnessed within the first and second segments.

There are very important dangerous results on society due to on-line actual cash video games.

There are instances of suicides, and middle-class households dropping their complete household financial savings.

It is a critical menace that every one events throughout political ideologies have been flagging.

Therefore, we have now introduced this Bill.

Did the federal government make any makes an attempt to work with the gaming business on these points?

Our makes an attempt at partaking with the business, making a self-regulatory physique, ensuring the dependancy is contained, and there’s some transparency so far as the algorithms of the gaming corporations are involved didn’t yield any outcomes up to now three-four years.

It is vital that we save society from these dangerous results whereas selling the constructive facets of on-line gaming.

What steps can be taken to advertise e-sports and social gaming sectors?

We want to promote e-sports and social gaming very actively, which is why, by way of the Bill, we’re creating an authority which is able to oversee and promote these sectors.

We have taken steps to determine the primary Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) in Mumbai.

More IICTs can be established on the traces of the IITs and IIMs in order that the inventive energies of our youth may be channelised into the inventive economic system.

That is the strategy by which we’re selling the constructive a part of the net gaming sector.

Will this Bill additionally affect avid gamers who play or have been enjoying these video games?

People who’re affected by on-line real-money video games are victims, so there isn’t a legal responsibility on them below this Bill.

Advertisers of on-line real-money video games, and those that present companies of economic transactions for such video games have a legal responsibility for positive.

There can also be legal responsibility on those that present these on-line real-money gaming companies however as such no legal responsibility on avid gamers.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff