Indian Government monitoring financial transactions in online games

According to the decision of the Prime Minister's Office of India on Sunday, government monitoring of financial transactions of all types of online video games will soon be implemented. Initially, it was proposed that only individual skill-based games would be monitored. However, this proposal was rejected, according to a government document and 3 other sources. News Reuters. This much awaited policy will affect the future of gaming sector in India in a big way, opines the stakeholders. According to the estimates of the research institute Redsear, the size of this sector will be 7 billion dollars by 2026. Games of chance can be compared to gambling. These games are banned in most states of India. According to the proposal, the jurisdiction to decide on games of chance was to be vested separately in each state government. However, in a government meeting held on October 26, an official of the Prime Minister's Office objected to this. He expressed the opinion that surveillance should be increased on all types of games. The minutes of the meeting also state that classifying video games based on skill and luck is problematic. There is no clear legal guidance in this regard. Quoting the said official, the document further said, 'Online gaming should be considered holistically. There is no need for class distinction in this.' India's Supreme Court has ruled that online card games (eg 'Rummy') are skill-based and legal. However, courts in various states have not been able to reach a consensus regarding games like poker. A government source said the Modi government's administration is worried about the addiction to such platforms.