Online money gaming companies will take us to court to challenge the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on August 21. The bill, which the Lok Sabha passed on August 20, prohibits the offering, operation, advertisement, and promotion of online money games. The Rajya Sabha passed the bill shortly after Vaishnaw tabled it. Members of the Rajya Sabha did not end up discussing any of the clauses of the bill. Further, while certain members, namely John Brittas and V Sivadasan, had proposed amendments to the bill, the Rajya Sabha never ended up discussing these either.
“There are powerful people behind online money games; they will challenge the bill in court, they will try to campaign against the bill through media and social media, but when it comes to protecting our youth and the middle class, the Prime Minister will prioritise the youth and middle class,” Vaishnaw explained.
He urged the opposition, the general public, and the media to help the government put an end to this social ill and help free the youth from online money gaming addiction.
What grounds could gaming companies use to challenge the bill?
In a post analyzing the key constitutional questions surrounding the online gaming bill, Abir Roy, co-founder of Sarvada Legal, questions what distinguishing factors the government has relied upon to ban online real money gaming without also banning real-life betting in casinos or horse races. Besides this, Roy also mentioned that the bill disregards existing legal precedents in separating games of skill and games of chance within the real money gaming ecosystem. He adds that the Supreme Court and multiple other courts in the country have upheld the distinction between these games, explaining that without it, fantasy sports like Dream 11 and MPL would end up banned.
Based on these questions, and others that Roy points out in his post, it is evident that companies will have sufficient ground to challenge the bill in court. The success of these challenges and whether companies have the financial capabilities to continue long-winded legal battles remains to be seen. Already, some online money gaming companies appear to be winding down their money games, with reports circulating that Dream 11 is no longer accepting bets and the opinion trading app Probo is shutting down its operations in India.
Other key comments Vaishnaw made in the Parliament:
Reasons behind implementing an online money game ban:
Vaishnaw mentioned that the World Health Organisation has declared an addiction to online money games a gaming disorder under the International Classification of Diseases ICD-11. “Online money gaming has become a public health concern, which is leading to psychological disorders, compulsive behaviours, withdrawal symptoms, and violent behaviours,” he said, quoting national headlines…
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