Risks and Compliance of Indian Payment Channels in the Gaming Industry

The use of Indian payment gateways in the gaming industry involves complex legal and compliance issues that need to be handled with care. Below is an analysis of the key risk and compliance points:

I. Core legal risks

1. Indian Gambling Act Restrictions

• Public Gambling Act 1867 criminalises interstate operation of gambling activities
• Local regulations vary widely from state to state (e.g., Tamil Nadu has a total ban on online gambling)
• New Tax Act 2023 calls for 281 TP3T Goods and Services Tax (GST) on internet betting

2. Payments regulatory framework

• RBI's Guidelines for Payment System Operators Prohibit Financial Institutions from Processing Illegal Transactions
• NPCI may freeze UPI accounts for alleged irregularities
• PCI DSS Data Security Standard Imposes Stringent Requirements for Transaction Monitoring

II. Typical business risk scenarios

1. Identification of financial flow characteristics(high-risk model):

   • High-frequency small deposits/diversified withdrawals
   • Mismatch between IP address and KYC geographic information
   • Funds pooling behaviour of the "top-up agent" model

2. Warning of cases of judicial practice::

   • Paytm fined Rs 3.7 crore in 2022 related to grey merchant transactions
   • Multiple Razorpay merchant accounts frozen over gaming links

III. Recommendations for compliance operations (technical aspects)

# KYC Enhanced Validation Sample Code Logic 

def enhanced_kyc_verification(user).

    if user['transaction_pattern'] == 'gambling_like'.

        require_additional_id = True  

        geo_block_check = check_location_vs_ip(user)

        if geo_block_check.failed.

            trigger_manual_review()

            suspend_transactions()

3. Alternative programme architecture design

graph TD.

    A[player] --> |cryptocurrency | B(offshore hosted wallet).

    B --> C{Compliance Exchange Channel}.

    C --> |Legal Purpose| D [Local Payment Channels in India].

    C -->|Game Token Conversion| E[Virtual Goods Platform]

IV. Special considerations

1. Cricket tournaments and other popular times need to be monitored more closely(IPL season fraud rate up 300%)
2. The language localisation trap:: Avoidance of sensitive words such as "जीतगारंटी" in Hindi advertisements.

It is recommended that a 'two-tier structure' be adopted to segregate the flow of funds: processing gaming transactions through a Dubai/Malta licensed entity and using only the Indian payment channel for legal settlement of virtual goods/membership services etc. At the same time, 15-20% liquidity is reserved for unexpected regulatory freezes.

Note: Implementation requires working with local compliance consultants to complete PSP filings and regularly update SAS70 audit reports. Recent jurisprudence shows that the Supreme Court is inclined to uphold state jurisdictional claims for cross-border gaming.

Below is a further risk refinement and compliance strategy supplement for the application of Indian payment gateways in the gaming industry, specifically addressing the latest regulatory developments in 2024:

V. Technical programme for the concealment of financial links (to be accompanied by a legal opinion)

1. Tokenisation Layers

# Transaction obfuscation processing example (subject to RBI tokenisation specification)

def process_payment(source_account).

    if source_account.country == 'IN'.

        # Generate PCI compliant tokens in place of real card numbers

        token = generate_pci_token(source_account)  

        route_to = 'legal_merchant_code' # Mapping to Compliant Merchant Category Code (MCC)

    else.

        route_to = offshore_processing_node()

    log_for_audit(token, masked=True) # Audit Log Desensitisation

2. Multi-level settlement path design

graph LR.

    Player -->|INR| Payment_Aggregator.

    Payment_Aggregator -->|USDT| Liquidity_Pool[Offshore_Pool].

    Liquidity_Pool -->|Fiat Currency Exchange| White_label_Bank [white label bank].

    White_label_Bank -->|Enterprise_Account| Game_Platform.

VI. Response to key regulatory updates in 2024

1. DPDPA Data Act Impact

   • Localised servers must be deployed to store Indian user data
   • SHA-3 encryption standard required for KYC file transfers (former AES-256 no longer compliant)

2. New tools for tax audits

   • CBDT enabled the AI system "Project Insight" for tracking:
     • Multiple wallet accounts associated with the same device ID
     • UPI VPA naming contains gambling keywords (e.g. xxxbet@upi)

3. Highlights of the latest Supreme Court jurisprudence::

   • Gameskill vs Gamble test criteria expanded (losing streak players can claim refunds)

VII. Recommended thresholds for wind control parameters

VIII. Alternative non-direct payment programmes

A) Telegram Bot Payment Process:

The user sends /deposit → 

Bot returns links to virtual goods orders (e.g., e-books) → 

After completing the Paytm payment → 

The system automatically recharges the equivalent value of the game gold

B) OTT Membership Points Conversion:

def points_conversion(user):

    if user.purchased_ott_subscription. 

        credit_points = subscription_fee * exchange_rate

        platform.wallet.deposit(credit_points)

        create_invoice('VIP Member Service Fee') # GST invoice creation basis

IX. Dispute resolution filing requirements

1. RBI mandatory pre-deposit of dispute margin (based on transaction value of 51 TP3T)
2. Grievance Officer must:
   • Employees of India-based entities hold DSC digital signature certificates
   • Twitter/X account response timeframe < 30 minutes (required by new draft regulation)

Dawn Raid" (Dawn Raid) stress test is recommended: a monthly simulation of law enforcement raids to test the traceability of transaction records in seconds.

Note: Currently there are special economic zones in Kerala and Goa to allow experimental operations, subject to an additional 151 TP3T social responsibility tax.