Hyderabad Police have issued an advisory to parents, warning them about rising complaints linked to children making unauthorised payments in online multiplayer games using saved cards and autofilled UPI details on family devices.
According to the advisory issued by Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Wednesday, the city’s cybercrime cell is seeing an increase in complaints of online fraud cases. However, upon investigation, it has been found that most of these cases do not involve hacking or an external cybercriminal, but a child making in-game purchases using a family member’s bank accounts, cards, and UPI services without permission.
— V.C. Sajjanar, IPS (@SajjanarVC_IPS) June 24, 2026PARENTAL ADVISORY: Protecting Children from Online Multiplayer Gaming Risks & Financial Losses
We have noticed an increasing number of cyber fraud complaints reported to our Cyber Crime PS which, upon investigation, reveal no hacking or outsider involvement. Instead, these… pic.twitter.com/qNFIVI0rH6
Children misusing UPI accounts of the elderly: The police said that a significant share of cases involving children purchasing in-game items trace back to a grandparent’s phone, which is more likely to have saved payment credentials, active UPI apps, or open net banking and is less likely to be closely monitored.
In April 2026, MediaNama reported that the Reserve Bank of India was mulling extra checks for payments made by senior citizens. If implemented, customers aged 70 and above, as well as people with disabilities, may require approval from a “trusted person” for transactions worth over Rs 50,000.
Loot box at the centre of complaints: The advisory highlights growing concerns over the popularity of online battle royale games among children, especially boys aged 10-17 years. Police said daily conversations and leisure time in this age group increasingly revolve around games like Free Fire MAX, with peer status tied to owning expensive virtual skins, Elite Pass tiers and rare items obtained through in-game purchases.
Why this matters: Games like Free Fire MAX, which feature loot boxes, sit in a regulatory grey zone in India. Loot boxes are an in-game feature allowing players to buy mystery items, cosmetic skins, and outfits with real or virtual currency.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, banned online real money games but does not regulate how and where loot boxes appear in video games.
MediaNama’s Event Report titled “Navigating India’s Online Gaming Law” notes that the law’s current definition of “other stakes” is broad and reads to include credits, tokens, or objects “by whatever name called,” which creates legal uncertainty for in-app purchases, microtransactions, and loot boxes used in online social games and e-sports. Legal ambiguity risks curtailing legitimate social game/e-sport monetisation, inviting legal challenges and market disruption.
At a MediaNama discussion last September, Jay Sayta, a technology and gaming lawyer, noted that in-game purchases where there is no possibility of getting monetary value in return would likely not fall under the definition of online money games. However, if loot boxes and randomised reward mechanics allow the possibility of obtaining “other stakes” convertible to real money, it would likely be prohibited.
“Loot boxes are again a contentious issue. If there is both an element of paying something to get these rewards, then loot boxes could be problematic, Sayta added.
Nikhil Pahwa, the founder of MediaNama, said games around the world use in-game purchases as a monetisation method. “I do feel that we need monetisation mechanisms outside of advertising and subscription for gaming companies. If there are loot boxes, there can be regulations around how they’re supposed to operate. In-game purchases that enhance gameplay or allow people to upgrade their gameplay are a part of the legitimate monetisation mechanisms of games across the world,” he said.
Other participants suggested that, instead of an outright ban, the law could insert mandatory rules requiring platforms to:
Advisory recommends precautionary measures: Parents have been advised to remove all saved cards and UPI autofill details from any device a child has access to, including grandparents’ phones, and require a PIN or biometric verification for every single transaction.
Also read:
For You
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。