By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Nov 24:
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has introduced guidelines to ensure that such advertising makes users aware about financial and other risks that are associated with playing online games with real money winnings.
The guidelines will be effective from the 15 December 2020, and will apply to advertisements that are legally permitted. The guidelines: 1. No gaming advertisement may depict any person under the age of 18 years, or who appears to be under the age of 18, engaged in playing a game of online gaming for real money winnings, or suggest that such persons can play these games.
2.Every such gaming advertisement must carry the following disclaimer: a. Print/static: 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 no less than 20% of the space in the advertisement, It should specifically meet disclaimer guidelines laid out in the ASCI code. Audio/video: “This game involves an element of financial risk and may be addictive. Please play responsibly at your own risk, Such a disclaimer must be placed in normal speaking pace at the end of the advertisement, It must be in the same language as the advertisement and for audio-visual mediums, the disclaimer needs to be in both audio and visual formats.
3.The advertisements should not present ‘Online gaming for real money winnings’ as an income opportunity or an alternative employment option. 4. The advertisement should not suggest that a person engaged in gaming activity is in any way more successful as compared to others.
As per a recent KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler) providers of risk, financial and business advisory, online gaming grew 45% in Financial Year 2020 with the user base surpassing 365 million by March 2020 on real-money games (RMGs). The card-based and fantasy segments both achieved strong traction. As India is a mobile-first country, more than 90% of online gamers play games on their phones. The online gaming market, worth more than $500 million now, could be worth $1.1 billion by 2021. In 2019, around 5.6 billion mobile gaming apps were downloaded in India – the highest in the world and representing nearly 13% of gaming apps globally. Internet penetration in India is 31% and KMPG expects it to reach 53% by 2021 – which would give over 700 million people access to the internet and its wealth of gaming options.
The rapid growth, and the real danger of the negative impacts of RMG advertisements, prompted ASCI to develop advertising guidelines to ensure users are aware of the financial and addiction risks. The Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, have given these ASCI guidelines their full support to address growing concerns about the potential misleading and harmful advertisements in the sector.
ASCI Secretary General Manisha Kapoor, said: “We have observed gaming advertisements target youth and families by suggesting that these can become sources of income and livelihood for them. We have noted concerns about such advertisements, both from consumers as well as the government. The key fact is that in most of these advertisements there is the real possibility of losing money, is suppressed. Millions of users of these apps come from lower income families, who can ill afford to lose their hard earned money. The frequent use of celebrities in many of these advertisements makes them more attractive to consumers, who tend to trust their heroes and role models blindly. These games are highly addictive; these advertisements end up being not just misleading, but also harmful to individuals and society.
