Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 14, 2022 at 16:24 IST
On January 13, 2022 the Madhya Pradesh Home Minister stated that the Government is planning to frame laws in regards with banning of online gaming platforms. The statement of the Home Minister comes after an 11-year-old boy died by committing suicide after losing INR 6000 in an online game.
The Home Minister for Madhya Pradesh Government, Narottam Mishra stated, “Online games have become a serious matter. To ban the games, we are bringing a new law in Madhya Pradesh. The draft is ready.”
On January 12, 2022 a student of class 5th committed suicide due to loss of money in online games. Additional Commissioner of Police in Bhopal stated, “No suicide note was found from the spot but parents informed that the child was addicted of playing an online game. He used to play games on TV as well on mobile. He was so fond of online games that he himself ordered the game fighter’s dress online.”
Sachin Atulkar, the Additional Commissioner of Police further stated, “When his parents deleted the game from one mobile phone, the boy reinstalled it in some other phone. In the payment history, it was found that the child had spent ₹6,000 to purchase add-on of the game from his father’s account without informing them.”
If the legislation in regards with banning of online gaming platforms is implemented by the State Government, then Madhya Pradesh would be the eighth state in India to ban online gaming platforms. States like Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Nagaland, Odisha and Karnataka have banned online games via laws and are being challenged in courts by gaming producers and creators.