Gaming federations tie up to enforce code of ethics for user safety

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The All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has joined hands with the Federation of Fantasy Sports (FIFS) and E-Gaming Federation (EGF) to enforce code of ethics (CoE) to ensure responsible gaming and safety standards across the industry. 

“The CoE is aimed at enforcing consistent standards of user safety across the industry through the implementation of responsible gaming and advertising policies and mandates annual third-party audits and comprehensive reporting mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency,” the three organisations said in a statement.

 

Under the code of ethics framework, all gaming companies will implement strict age-gating norms, have robust know-your-consumer norms, ensure appropriate safeguards for gamers’ data, have standards for management of player funds, provide clear and accurate information to players, implement tools and resources for identifying and assisting at-risk players, and have ethical advertising and promotions.

 

Gaming companies with a revenue of more than ₹100 crore per year will have to implement these practices within the next six months while those platforms whose revenue is less than ₹100 crore per year will have nine months to implement these guidelines.

 

“Upon successful adoption, federations will issue a certification valid for one year which shall be renewable annually upon completion of a third-party independent audit. The code will be reviewed annually to assess its effectiveness and identify areas for improvement,” the statement said.

 

This is the second time gaming federations have come together to form a common code of ethics which will be mandatory to be followed by the members. Earlier in December 2023, AIGF, EGF and FIFS along with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had adopted a voluntary code of ethics to “protect the interests of consumers and enable them to make informed choices about the online games they access”.

 

The code of ethics had said that online gaming companies should endeavour to offer a self-exclusion feature, allowing players to willingly suspend their access for a chosen period, undertake education and communication campaigns to raise awareness about engaging with online gaming in a responsible manner, among others.

 

This also come on the back of the Tamil Nadu online gaming authority's (TNOGA) decision to regulate the time and money spent by players on online real money games. The TNOGA has said that the users below the age of 18 shall be barred from playing online real money games. Further, the know-your-customer verification will be mandatory for all players at the time of registration on the gaming platform.

 

The order also mandates that online gaming platforms will “display pop-up caution messages” if a player plays a game for more than an hour, and that such pop-up messages shall be displayed to the user every 30 minutes.