Online Gambling Restrictions and E-Sports Regulation Bill Set for Parliamentary Debate on Wednesday
The Indian government has taken a significant step towards regulating the online gaming industry with the passing of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. The bill, which received presidential assent on August 22, 2025, aims to establish a national framework for online gaming, focusing on e-sports, online social games, and online money games.
The lack of a regulatory framework for online gaming has led to a fragmented policy environment, resulting in ambiguity for industry stakeholders and insufficient safeguards for users. The new bill seeks to address these issues by introducing a structured approach that aligns the growth of the online gaming industry with national interests, public safety, and ethical business practices.
The bill bans all forms of online money games, prohibits their advertising, and blocks financial transactions related to these platforms. This ban affects both domestic and international operators accessible in India, with extraterritorial reach to ensure compliance by offshore entities. The ban includes criminalizing promotional endorsements by celebrities and influencers, as well as any facilitation of payments for such games.
The bill introduces a comprehensive national framework with three main segments in online gaming: e-sports, online social games, and online money games. E-sports are organized multiplayer competitions promoted under the Act, while online social games are games for entertainment or educational purposes without monetary stakes. Online money games, which involve any real-money betting or staking by users on games of chance, skill, or both, are completely banned.
The bill aims to protect users, notably youth, from addiction, financial harm, fraud, and social distress associated with real-money online gaming. It promotes the development of e-sports and social gaming, fostering innovation and a healthy digital gaming ecosystem separate from betting activities. The law creates uniformity across India, as previously gaming regulation was fragmented among states, often leading to conflicting rulings.
The bill is likely to have a provision of penalty of up to ₹1 crore or jail term up to 5 years or both. In case of offence by the company, the bill is likely to talk about declaring the person in-charge at the time of offence responsible, prosecuted, and punished. The bill could have a provision for blocking of online money gaming services.
The regulatory approach is particularly focused on protecting vulnerable user groups, especially minors. The bill envisions the creation of a central authority to promote competitive e-sports in the country. The bill is also intended to regulate e-sports and online social games, addressing critical concerns such as content moderation, age-appropriate access, and addiction risks.
The online gaming market in India is projected to be a $9 billion market by 2029. The current draft Bill, if implemented, could be detrimental to the online gaming industry in India. Platforms offering real-money games or stakes, such as Dream11, My11Circle, Winzo, and others, must cease operations in India or face penalties.
In a separate development, the Government is likely to introduce a bill in Parliament on Wednesday, titled 'The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025'. Meanwhile, the third edition of Games24x7's TechXpedite accelerator is aimed at backing early-stage start-ups in AI, gaming, and inclusive tech, with the publication date of the article about the third edition being August 19, 2025.
Overall, the Act marks a major shift by legally banning all real money gaming online, while encouraging skill-based, social, and e-sports gaming under regulated oversight to stimulate the industry’s growth responsibly.
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