Exclusive | India’s new online gaming authority to be operational from day one, says IT secretary

India’s newly formed Online Gaming Authority, a national regulator tasked with overseeing the online gaming industry, will be functional from the moment the government notifies the rules, S. Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Krishnan said that the authority is fully staffed and will run as a digital office from Delhi-NCR. “It can be ready the next day, because all the officials are in place,” he said, adding that the digital system was also being prepared to enable immediate roll-out.

The Online Gaming Authority of India is designed as a statutory regulator with quasi-judicial powers. It will maintain a central registry of games, classify money games, and handle disputes. Its creation follows the passage of the Online Gaming Bill in late August this year, which split regulatory duties across ministries - the sports ministry to promote eSports, the information ministry to regulate social games, and the IT ministry to enforce money-gaming bans.

Krishnan said registering social games will be voluntary rather than mandatory, easing compliance for developers. He added that the move should encourage innovation and give startups a boost.

The IT Minister also stressed that the intent of the law is to protect players, not penalise them. Referring to Rule 24, which deals with the return of funds, he said: “The Act does not intend to penalise players of online games or online money games. The intent is to treat them more as victims of a particular offence, and therefore the intent thereafter is to make sure that they get back what they have put down.”

He also clarified that the authority’s role is limited to classification, while enforcement actions such as prosecution and blocking remain with agencies designated under the Act.Read about our editorial guidelines and ethics policy