The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has come up with guidelines to regulate the advertisments run by online gaming platforms across the country.
After the ASCI came across concerns regarding misleading claims made through online gaming advertisements, the government body sprung into action.
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry first held a meeting on November 18, 2020 and discussed the issue with various stakeholders including the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), News Broadcasters Association (NBA), Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) & Online Rummy Federation (ORF).
The discussion culmianted with ASCI lapping up the responsibility to designate guidelines for these advertisements.
Therefore, the ASCI has introduced guidelines which have become effective from December 15, 2020 and are expected to make real-money gaming advertising safer & more responsible for the consumers. Find below the ASCI Guidelines:
No gaming advertisement may depict any person under the age of 18 years, or who appears to be under the age of 18.
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”.
In the case of print/static advertisement: the disclaimers should be legible and shall be no less than 20% of the space and also meet ASCI’s disclaimer guidelines.
In the case of audio/video advertisement: the disclaimer must be placed in a normal speaking pace at the end of the advertisement and it must be in the same language as the advertisement. Further, for audio-visual mediums, the disclaimer needs to be in both audio and visual formats.
The advertisements should not present ‘Online gaming for real money winnings’ as an income opportunity or an alternative employment option.
The advertisement should not suggest that a person engaged in gaming activity is in any way more successful as compared to others.