What is the crypto awareness campaign?
- January 1, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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What is the crypto awareness campaign?
Subject: Economy
Context:
- The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) will launch an outreach programme soon to create awareness of cryptocurrencies and online gaming. The need for the outreach is based on the observation that both crypto-assets and online gaming.
What is the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)?
- Setup in 2016, under the section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013.
- Managed by the IEPF Authority.
- The Authority is entrusted with the responsibility of administration of the IEPF, which, besides promoting awareness among investors, makes refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits and debentures and so on to rightful claimants.
- Focus areas include primary and secondary capital markets, various saving instruments, the instruments for investment (such as mutual funds, equity, among others), making investors aware of dubious Ponzi and chit fund schemes and existing grievance redressal mechanisms, among other things.
Why is there a concern about cryptocurrency?
- Crypto exchanges in India are being investigated for their alleged involvement in unlawful practices such as drug trafficking, money laundering, violating foreign exchange legislation and evasion of GST.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended framing legislation on the sector.
What is online gaming?
- An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available.
What are the types of online gaming?
- e-sports (well-organised electronic sports which include professional players),
- Fantasy sports
- Casual games: these can be either skill-based (mental skill) or chance based (based on a random activity like a roll of a dice) online games.
How big is the online gaming market in India?
- Revenue generated: The revenue is estimated to reach $5 billion in 2025.
- Growth: CAGR of 38% between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8% in China and 10% in the US.
Law on online gaming in India:
- State subject: Online gaming so far has been a state subject, but state governments are finding it extremely difficult to enforce certain rules like geo-blocking certain apps or websites within the territory of their state.
- Applicability issue: there is a concern that rules passed in one state are not applicable in another, which has caused inconsistency in regulation.
- Lack enough power: State governments also do not have enough blocking powers like the Centre to issue blocking orders for offshore betting sites.
Online Gaming sector:
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed the nodal industry for online gaming in India;
- for e-sports, the nodal agency is the Department of Sports, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- Issue: There is confusion about the definitions of a ‘game of chance’ like fantasy games, and a ‘game of skill’, a term which has been used in the Public Gaming Act (1867) but has not been spelt out.
- Under several rulings of supreme court and High courts, ‘Game of skill’ is protected under the Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution.
- These rulings have also emphasised a clear distinction between ‘Games of Skill’ and ‘Games of Chance’.