The Centre on Tuesday designated the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as the nodal ministry to oversee the online gaming industry.
The government has been deliberating on plans to regulate the online gaming sector since early this year. However, in absence of a nodal ministry to oversee the sector, online gaming intersects with multiple ministries including MeitY, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), and the Sports ministry.
The government set up a seven-member inter-ministerial task force in May 2022, chaired by Minister of State for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar to work on online gaming regulations and to identify a nodal ministry for the sector.
For e-sports as part of multi-sports events, the Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been notified as the nodal department.
Recently, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Centre would soon come up with a proper policy, and a new law, to deal with online gaming as all states have been unanimous in their concerns about the serious impact it was causing to society.
Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Parliament said that the government was aware of the possible risk and challenges of online gaming, including the risk of “violence abetting video games, addiction to it, and consequential financial loss.”