Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 Passed

The Rajya Sabha has approved the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, reinforcing the Centre’s extensive prohibition on real-money online games. This decision follows its passage in the Lok Sabha just a day earlier. Presenting the bill in the Lok Sabha, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw labelled online money gaming as “a more significant issue than drugs,” highlighting that 450 million Indians are affected and middle-income families incur approximately Rs 20,000 crore in annual losses. He raised concerns about addiction, financial devastation, money laundering, and connections to terrorism, while cautioning against efforts to sway public opinion through media and social platforms.

The legislation bans all games that involve monetary stakes, including fantasy sports, poker, betting applications, and opinion trading. It mandates that banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), digital wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services, and celebrity promoters sever links with these platforms. Offences are classified as cognizable and non-bailable, potentially leading to up to three years of imprisonment and fines of up to Rs 1 crore, with directors and promoters held personally accountable unless they can demonstrate due diligence.

This legislative move poses an existential threat to the industry. Real-money gaming accounted for 85% of India’s multi-billion-dollar gaming revenue in FY24 and was anticipated to experience rapid growth. Platforms like Dream11, MPL, Games24x7, and Probo now face potential extinction. Market reactions have already been negative, with Nazara Technologies experiencing a decline of over 20% this week.

Industry associations have cautioned the government that implementing a blanket ban could result in the loss of thousands of crores in tax revenue, lead to significant job losses, and push players towards unregulated offshore operators, a risk they believe undermines the very objective of regulation.