Calcutta: A technical issue could pose a challenge in Tamil Nadu’s bid to implement Aadhaar-based user verification to prevent minors from playing online real money games.

The Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority has notified the Real Money Games Regulations, 2025 on February 12, which states that any minor under the age of 18 years shall be prohibited from playing online real money games.

Section 4(iii) of the regulations states that KYC verification shall be mandatory for the initial login with Aadhaar and it has to be authenticated by OTP sent to the phone number linked with the Aadhaar.

“Gaming companies are not allowed to access the Aadhaar database right now. So companies can’t directly ping the Aadhaar database and verify the name and age of the user. Suitable changes to the central legislations are needed,” said a senior executive of an online real money gaming company.

“The industry has spoken with the Tamil Nadu government and highlighted the issue. We also don’t want any minors to play on the system,” the executive said.

He added that some of the real money games available at the mobile app stores are already rated for 18 years and above.

The new regulations were initially stated to come into effect on the date of publication of the gazette on February 12. However, on March 8, an extension was given for six weeks based on representations from various gaming federations.

In addition to the Aadhaar-based KYC verification, the regulations also direct online real money gaming companies not to allow users to log in between 12 midnight to 5 in the morning based on Indian Standard Time.

“This is also a very restrictive regulation. Such restrictions do not exist for OTT and video streaming apps,” the executive said.

The regulations also said that online game providers should display pop-up messages at 30-minute intervals when a player plays continuously for more than one hour.

It was earlier reported by PTI that both the regulations of Aadhaar-based KYC verification and restricted hours were challenged before the Madras High Court.

In their petitions filed before the court, the companies submitted that earlier on two occasions, the Tamil Nadu government had prohibited and banned the playing of legally permissible games of skill, which was struck down. The new rules mark a third attempt to regulate the sector.

Ethics code

Industry associations representing online real money gaming companies, AIGF, EGF and FIFS, have jointly signed a “code of ethics” which their member companies will adopt to promote user safety and responsible gaming practices, including KYC verification and spending limit, a joint statement said on Monday.

The members of these gaming industry bodies include Dream11, My11Circle, Khelo Fantasy Live, SG11 Fantasy, WinZO, Games24X7, Junglee Games.