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.
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…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
