Online gaming law: Payment companies seek sufficient time from MeitY and RBI for processing customer refunds, chargebacks

Fintechs said refunding customers and reconciling chargebacks requires adequate liquidity buffers, and requested flexibility to maintain balances to facilitate smooth transactions.

Banks, meanwhile, sought clarity on current account operations, particularly on how to distinguish between legitimate salary and vendor payments versus RMG-linked transactions. Without such clarity, they said blocking accounts could disrupt normal business operations.

A government official said the meeting was aimed at familiarising financial intermediaries with the Act’s provisions, understanding their proposed implementation plans, and hearing out transitional challenges and suggestions for the rules.

“The industry response was mostly welcoming. Companies committed to implementing the law but sought specific and detailed guidelines from RBI, and time for backend compliance mechanisms to settle in,” the official cited above told Moneycontrol.

MeitY officials also emphasised that customers will not be penalised under the law.

“The focus is on restricting money flow to banned platforms, not on treating players as criminals. Financial institutions should not freeze user accounts or block cards simply because individuals transacted with gaming platforms in the past,” an industry executive present at the meeting said citing the government officials.

The meeting was attended by top lenders including SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, along with payments body NPCI and leading fintech firms. This meeting was said it was the first step towards operational rollout of the law and will be followed by more detailed consultations.

Apart from refund processes, discussions also touched upon ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering norms and examining mechanisms to allow permissible formats such as e-sports and social gaming while ring-fencing banned activity.