Previously, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (“MeitY”), had released the proposed amendments to Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“Rules”) relating to online gaming, for public consultation inviting feedback and comments from the public (“Draft Amendments”). For more details on the Draft Amendments, you may refer to our article on Online Gaming – Now on the path of regulation.

In the recent years, endorsement deals have become an increasingly important aspect of sports events in India. Endorsement deals provide financial assistance to the sports events and sportspersons while providing a large audience to the popular brands. As the importance of these deals has grown, so has the need to understand the complexities associated with them. In this article, we explore the legal implications related to endorsement contracts in the Indian sports industry.

Endorsement contracts with sportspersons in India typically involve the use of the sportsperson's name, public image and likeness for promotional purposes in exchange for financial benefits. Typical legal issues associated with endorsement contracts such as breach of the terms of contract, ignorance of non-compete provisions and fineprints of the obligations of the parties, etc. For example, a brand may expect a sportsperson to maintain a particular image or behaviour, and if the sportsperson fails to do so, it may lead to the termination of the endorsement contract and/or legal action.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) rolled out the draft amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”), for public consultation inviting feedback and comments from the public on the proposed amendments (“Draft Amendments”). The proposed Draft Amendments by MeitY can be accessed here.

Gaming or gambling, dating back to ancient times was one of the most prominent leisure activities in India. Be it the board games in the ages of Ramayana or Shakuni’s dice game in the epic tale of Mahabharata, India had it since the very beginning.

Evidently, Indians have very well kept the age-old tradition alive and the country has witnessed growth in the gaming industry. India with the world’s largest youth population of 464 million people (around 300 million of which consist of gamers) is all set to lead the global gaming market in the coming years.

Where on one hand, India is looking forward to enhancing its technical outreach simultaneously significant increase in volumes of online transactions, some parts of the country are yet to open arms to online gaming or to the online gaming sector. In the recent past, online gaming has grown significantly in India and attracted investments from pedigree investors, few of the online gaming companies are also big sponsors of some highly telecasted television programs and whereby has caught everyone’s attention, however, its legal recognition is still a grey area in India.