“A Farrago Of Confusing And Contradictory Provisions”: Gaming Lawyer Jay Sayta’s 5 Concerns With India’s Online Gaming Rules

Gaming and technology lawyer Jay Sayta has concerns about India’s proposed online gaming rules, an unconventional take amidst the generally optimistic initial industry responses to them. Sayta’s main concerns—the rules are overbroad, contradictory, and outsource regulatory functions to private organisations. Or, as he puts it:

“While the need to regulate online gaming websites and apps is almost universally acknowledged and the purpose for which the process of framing an online gaming policy is initiated is well-intentioned, the draft rules are a farrago of confusing and contradictory provisions coupled with lack of backing of a plenary legislation.”

Why it matters: Paying attention to the weaknesses of these rules is important because India’s gaming and gambling laws are already a mess. For starters, they’re often based on dusty colonial laws ill-equipped to regulate the Internet. Gambling is also regulated by states in India, with governments differently defining and banning games of chance, or gambling games, based on their own legislative prerogatives. Indian gaming companies have to operate within this regulatory maze without concrete definitions of what constitutes gaming and gambling. While governments and companies navigate the murky sector, Indians play online with little legal protection from the sector’s harms. So, the real question here is: do the rules adequately address all these concerns?

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“A Farrago of Confusing and Contradictory Provisions”: Jay Sayta’s 5 Concerns with India’s Online Gaming Rules