The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory asking all private television broadcasters to follow guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for advertisements relating to online gaming, fantasy sports etc. The Ministry has advised that the advertisements should not promote any activity prohibited by statute or law.

Background

Ministry of I&B has noticed that a large number of advertisements on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports, etc have been appearing on the television. 

Concerns were expressed that such advertisements appear to be misleading, do not correctly convey to the customers the financial and other risks associated thereof, are not in strict conformity with the Advertising Code laid down under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019”.

ASCI guidelines require that

    • Every such gaming advertisement must carry the following disclaimer: 'This game involves an element of financial risk and may be addictive. Please play responsibly and at your own risk”.

    • Such a disclaimer should occupy at least 20% of the advertisement space.

    • Gaming advertisements cannot depict users under the age of 18 years as engaged in playing a game of “online gaming for real money winnings” or suggest that such users can play these games.

    • Such advertisements should neither suggest that online gaming presents an income generating opportunity as an alternative to employment nor depict a person playing such games is more successful than others.

The Advertising Standards Council of India, established in 1985, is a Mumbai based self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India. It seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation.  Under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 it is mandatory for television networks to follow the advertising code laid down by ASCI.

Fantasy Sport

    • A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a type of game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams of real players of a professional sport.

    • These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players in actual games. This performance is converted into points that are compiled and totaled according to a roster selected by each fantasy team's manager.

    • These point systems can be simple enough to be manually calculated by a "league commissioner" who coordinates and manages the overall league, or points can be compiled and calculated using computers tracking actual results of the professional sport. In fantasy sports, team owners draft, trade and cut (drop) players, analogously to real sports.

Online Gaming (eSports)

    • An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available.

    • Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and span many genres, including first-person shooters, strategy games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG).

    • The design of online games can range from simple text-based environments to the incorporation of complex graphics and virtual worlds.

    • Online games have attracted players from a variety of ages, nationalities, and occupations.

    • In 2019, revenue in the online games segment reached $16.9 billion, with $4.2 billion generated by China and $3.5 billion in the United States.

    • During the Eighth Olympic Summit in December 2019, the IOC reiterated that it would only consider sports-simulating games for any official Olympic event, but it would look at two paths for such games in the future: those that promoted good physical and mental health lifestyles, and virtual reality and augmented reality games that included physical activity.

    • Although the legitimacy of esports as a true sporting competition remains in question, they have been featured alongside traditional sports in some multinational events in Asia, with the International Olympic Committee also having discussed their inclusion into future Olympic events.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants. The views expressed here are personal.)