'Terror support seen in operations of gaming companies'

NEW DELHI: IT & electronics minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said government detected instances of money laundering and terror support in operations of real-money gaming entities. He stated that large companies failed to self-regulate and take "good and effective steps to prevent harm" to society, even as the common public lost money, prompting individuals and families to commit suicides.

"We observed instances of money laundering as well as terror support. And that's why we kept it. Also, the way this (real-money) addiction was growing, this would have caused serious harm to society... Many suicides happened practically across every part of the country. We saw news of families committing suicides because of losses they made in online money games. This was clearly visible to the industry also. If they took good and effective steps to prevent the harm, obviously things would have been different," the minister told TOI on a day Parliament cleared 'The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025' that bans money games in India.

On statements given by the industry that their operations would collapse, Vaishnaw said there will be orderly growth after a clear regulatory mandate. "The gaming industry will continue to grow... E-sports and online social gaming will be promoted as a part of this bill. The online money game is what is getting regulated. The game makers will get new opportunities and the gaming industry will continue to grow for the parts, which are beneficial to society. The social games include Sudoku and the online social games include chess. There are so many games which are part of our life, and promoting those is part of this."

The minister said there was unanimity across party lines to take action against money games. "Practically every MP from every party or every society, every state has been asking for strict action on this. People from across the spectrum, whichever party, whichever state, whichever language, have been asking for action on it because it's visible in society today."

Asked whether it was a political decision then, he said, "The harm to society is very real. Vaishnaw said the industry was clearly aware of the issues but did not take remedial measures. "We engaged with the industry for more than three years. Attempts were made to make the industry understand the harms. And, the industry is certainly getting the feedback from society also."

Asked about loss of investments and FDI in a sector, which was seen as a sunrise industry till just a few years back, he said money will continue to come in. "Gaming as an activity, which is part of e-sports and part of online social games will continue to grow. Investments will come in those segments. The bill also has a provision for creating an authority to promote online social games and e-sports."

He said the IT ministry will keep a tab on potential job losses in the industry, even as they expect employment to grow. "Game makers will get many more opportunities to create new games in e-sports and online social game segments. They will get newer opportunities because we are actively promoting that."

Regarding the menace of offshore illegal games, the minister said the new law will tackle their growth. "We are continuously taking enforcement action against illegal offshore apps and are continuously blocking them. In this legislation, when the liability is also on financial transactions that will also help us in effectively blocking illegal apps."


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