“If you’re addicted, you’ll keep playing no matter what”, cautioned Rishi, a B.Com. student who has lost @1 lakh while playing on a real money gaming app. The statement arises in the light of the blanket ban on the real money game apps. The Government of India pushed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 (hereafter the Act) through Parliament in a stealthy manner as the monsoon session came to a conclusion. It was signed by the President the very next day the Parliament passed it. The Act prohibits online real-money gaming while encouraging the growth of e-sports and online social games. Stakeholders were not considered when this law was passed.
Betting and gambling is present among the humans since the civilisation began. The first instance of betting or gambling in India can be found in the Mahabharata. With the passage of time and passing through various regimes, betting has seen it all, the legalisation, regularisation and prohibition. The rise of technology made it sure that it reached every nook and the corner of the society. Thus, came the rise of online gaming platforms. Although there has always been debate around the game of skill or game of chance factor, earlier, the games of skill were legally played but all this stopped with the passing of this Act. The online gaming sector was a sunrise sector in India and in the recent years the country has seen a lot of foreign investment in it.
Ratiocination behind the Act
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) release stated that it is a landmark move to shield citizens from the menace of online money games. Through this Act, the Government aims to curb addiction, financial ruin and social distress caused by predatory gaming platforms that thrive on misleading promises of quick wealth. The move comes six years after the WHO considered ‘gaming disorder’ as a health condition that can have harmful consequences. As per the Government, the Online gaming platforms have caused widespread harm. Families have lost their savings and youngsters are falling into addiction. In some cases, the financial losses have driven people to suicides. The Government recognised these dangers and responded with legislation. The PIB release asserts that a balanced approach has been taken. On one hand, it bans online money games. Through the other hand, it encourages e-sports, which are organised competitive video games and promotes safe online social and educational games. It clearly separates constructive digital recreation from betting, gambling and fantasy games involving money that lures people with false promise of profit. Further it aims to promote India’s position as a hub for digital creativity. As by encouraging e-sports, there would be enormous job creations and innovations in gaming sector.
Although the advancement in technology has brought many benefits, these games have exploited loopholes in the law and caused deep social harm. Sh. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, while speaking in Rajya Sabha averred that an estimate showed 45 crore people have been negatively affected by the online money games and a loss of @20,000 crores has been incurred. Reports of depression and suicide were frequent as the financial losses put a lot of burden. The Government has acted to close these gaps and protect citizens, he added. The betting, gambling and online gaming was already a grey area where there was no direct law dealing with it. Moreover, the Act aims to fill the gaps in law, prevent frauds and money laundering. There were reports of some apps being used to fund terrorism and illegal messaging which could compromise the national security.
The Fallout
At the confluence of technology, payments and content within India’s proudly championed Digital India initiative, online gaming emerges as a pivotal force. The government touts its potential to generate abundant employment, mirroring global fervour for gaming as the dawn of a new digital era. Yet, this sector, already grappling with sluggish job growth, has endured devastating layoffs triggered by the recent Act, amplifying economic distress. Suffocating this dynamic industry risks sealing off opportunities for thousands of skilled professionals, stifling innovation and livelihoods alike. Still healing from the scars of imposed taxes on online games, the once meteoric rise of the sector has been utterly undermined by this legislation. Valued at $3.7 billion in 2024, the online gaming market was poised to soar to the $9 billion milestone by 2029. Moreover, projections indicated that real-money online games could yield @17,000 crores in Goods and Services Tax (GST), underscoring the profound fiscal implications of such regulatory hurdles.
Dr. S. Sriranjani Mokshagundam, Professor of Management at BGS B-School in Bangalore, warns that outlawing real-money games does not diminish demand; rather, it redirects it. According to her, This is a very real concern. Banning popular formats rarely eliminates the demand. It simply redirects them. Players in search of the same thrill are very likely to migrate toward offshore or unregulated platforms, which operate beyond the reach of Indian law.
The ban has proved to be a knee-jerk move for many companies. Popular platforms Mobile Premier League (MPL) and its rival Dream11 have discontinued their money games from the app after the ban. Many companies have warned that they will shut down or will downsize. MPL has declared that it will sack 60 percent of the staff because of this Act. Every time there was a talk about online gaming in the parliament, the government had said that it was in the process of regularising it. However, it came with prohibition, as per the stakeholders. Another setback is for the people who had pumped in millions as an investment in these start-ups.
Treating Unequal as Equal
Among the hardest hit is Dream11, who had become the lead sponsor of the Indian cricket team. One of the key contentions of the industry is that the Act does not distinguish between games of skill and chance, as the former involve decision making, talent and knowledge while the latter relied purely on luck. Several Indian High Courts have decided that the fantasy gaming platforms are games of skill and cannot be treated as gambling. In 2022, the Apex Court upheld the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s ruling in Varun Gumber v. U.T. of Chandigarh that classified fantasy games as ‘games of skill’.
Majority of the online gaming companies complied with the taxation and regulation upon them. If they are forced out of the gaming scenario, the compulsive players would inevitably find a way to shift to illegal apps hosted by underground or offshore networks. This would make things difficult for the law enforcement agencies as these offshore companies/networks are beyond the reach of the authorities, pay no taxes and expose consumers to fraud and unsafe practices. What would be the outcome? The government would not only loose revenue, but it would also unintentionally support the illegal betting sector that it is attempting to combat. Instead of developing solid monitoring mechanisms that balance public interest and private profit, India has relied on the blunt tool of prohibition. Treating home grown apps and offshore betting networks equally would reap no benefit to the government exchequer.
The restriction also violates constitutional norms and undermines federalism. Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution guarantees everyone the basic right to practise any profession or activity. The ban undermines the entire basis of this liberty. With this Act, a vibrant industry has been dealt a fatal blow. In 2023, the Information Technology (IT) Rules were amended to create a regulatory framework for real money gaming. The stakeholders were consulted on the pretext of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. It was done to ensure more transparency and build better safeguards. That was how GST was reformed to tax the real money games. At that time, the Government signalled that these changes were brought for regularising and taxing this growing sector. The stakeholders grew with confidence and the Courts were also deciding that these games are games of skill. The industry in 2023 generated more than one lakh jobs and the expectation was to double this number in 2025. Companies had poured their money into Know Your Customer (KYC), anti-money laundering protocols and grievance redressal mechanisms as they believed that they were in line with the government’s policy. Moreover, the legal and statutory recognition had brought in substantial foreign direct investment, adding to India’s digital economy. Come August 2025, jobs have been cut to half of what was given in 2023.
Conclusion: The Alternate Route
Legislation should have been enacted to safeguard players, prevent exploitation, and addiction. It would have been preferable if the states and stakeholders were taken into account or consulted. The choice is not between prohibition and freedom for all. There is an alternative approach that could provide a clear licensing network, strong compliance criteria, and a fair taxation scheme. Banning online real money gaming would result in both revenue and opportunity disappearing into the underground market, leaving gamers unprotected and vulnerable.
Moreover, it could have introduced age-gating, ethical advertising standards, expenditure limit for users, distinction between games of chance and skill. The Act wants to solve genuine problems but at the cost of destroying an entire ecosystem. Domestic as well as foreign investors may retreat and would be hesitant to bet on India’s unstable regulatory pendulum.
For the time being, the real money gaming industry will wait with bated breath, hoping that this is not game over, but merely a twist in the tale. The near future will determine if Court decisions or legislative fixes will be able to save the day, crafting protection and progress in India’s digital economy.
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Prof. (Dr.) Aman A. Cheema, Professor-of-Laws, University Institute of Laws, Panjab University Regional Centre, Ludhiana, Punjab.
** Ankur Taya, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Laws, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Bibliography:
Vedica Pandey & Srishti Joshi, “Why Online Gaming ban may not pass Judicial Scrutiny” The Indian Express August 22nd, 2025.
- Ashna Mariam George, “Ban on real money games could backfire, says experts” The New Indian Express Sept. 13th, 2025; available at:
https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Sep/13/ban-on-real-money-games-could-backfire-say-experts - “India’s online gaming sector may cross $9 billion by 2029: Report”, The Economic Times, available at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/indias-online-gaming-sector-may-cross-9-billion-by-2029-report/articleshow/119209014.cms?from=mdr - Promotion and Regulation Of Online Gaming Act 2025, available at: https://www.meity.gov.in/documents/act-and-policies/promotion-and-regulation-of-online-gaming-act-2025-and-its-corrigenda-kTMxQjMtQWa
- Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025: Protecting Middle Class and Youth; Promoting e-sports, Online Social Games, August 21st, 2025; available at:
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?id=155075&NoteId=155075&ModuleId=3 - Rajeev Gowda, “Cutting off online gaming with the scissors of prohibition” The Hindu September 15th, 2025; available at:
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/cutting-off-online-gaming-with-the-scissors-of-prohibition/article70049718.ece - Varun Gumber v. U.T. of Chandigarh; 2017 Cri LJ 3827; the decision of Punjab & Haryana High Court in this matter was upheld by the Supreme Court of India.
