NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would hear next week a petition challenging the constitutional and legislative validity of the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023, relating to online gaming. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma to assist the court in the matter and listed it for consideration on July 13.
The plea said the rules seek to create a framework for regulating online gaming, including online real money games, by classifying them as “intermediaries” under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The rules also seek to impose several due diligence requirements and compliances such as Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, appointment of grievance redressal and nodal officers, taking registration and membership of Self Regulatory Body (SRB), and tasks these SRBs with certifying certain categories of online real money games as permissible online games, it said.
The PIL filed by NGO Social Organisation for Creating Humanity (SOCH) said the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules are beyond the legislative competence of the Union government, and the Constitution gives exclusive powers to states to legislate on “gambling and betting”.