Update, August 21, 3:00 PM: Rajya Sabha has now passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025.
Original Post:
On August 20, 2025, the government introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to establish a comprehensive legal framework for India’s rapidly expanding online gaming sector. It covers e-sports, educational games, and social gaming while simultaneously imposing strict prohibitions on online real-money games.
According to the draft, the legislation aims to promote innovation and safeguard public interest by addressing the adverse social, financial, and psychological harms associated with money-based gaming platforms.
Furthermore, the bill proposes the creation of a national authority to oversee the sector, ensure responsible use of digital technologies, and regulate the industry in a structured manner. It cites the sector’s potential to contribute to employment, technological development, and global competitiveness, while warning against unchecked practices that have led to financial exploitation, compulsive behaviour, addiction, and threats to public order and national security.
Ban On Real Money Gaming
The government has defined an “online money game” as any game played on a digital device in which a user pays fees, deposits money, or stakes other items of value in the expectation of winning monetary or equivalent returns. This definition covers games of chance, skill, or a combination of both, but specifically excludes e-sports.
Building on this definition, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, imposes a comprehensive ban on online real money gaming through three key provisions:
- Section 5: It prohibits any person from offering, facilitating, aiding, or abetting online money games or related services. This effectively outlaws both the operation of such platforms and participation in them.
- Section 6: It bans advertisements or promotions of online money games in any medium. The provision covers both direct and indirect endorsements, including through electronic communication and influencer or celebrity promotions.
- Section 7: It bars banks, financial institutions, and intermediaries from processing or authorising payments linked to online money gaming services. This cuts off financial support systems necessary for such games to function.
Together, these sections establish a total prohibition on the offering, promotion, and financial facilitation of online real money games within India.
The Reasoning Given By The Government
The government has justified the ban on online money games by citing their serious social, economic, and psychological harms. In the Statement of Objects and Reasons, the bill notes that the unchecked spread of such games has “led to grave social, economic, and psychological consequences across the country”. It points to compulsive and addictive behaviour…
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