Centre to ban all online real-money games. Billion-dollar industry faces existential threat.
Online gaming companies such as Dream11 promoter Sporta Technologies, RummyCulture’s Gameskraft, and My11Circle’s Games24x7 are expected to be the worst hit—possibly to the point of shutting shop.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), in discussion with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), is likely to table the bill in Parliament on 20 August, following which it will go through the due process of law enactment before becoming law.
The proposed legislation, called The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, states that online real-money games have “led to significant mental health issues… and behavioural problems linked to prolonged gaming”. Mint has seen a copy of the bill.
Meity, in a cabinet note on Monday to other ministries, added that “the unregulated and unchecked growth of online money gaming platforms has led to severe socio-economic and psychological consequences, posing a grave risk to public welfare”.
The bill proposes a complete ban on any game that incorporates financial transactions, which it declares as criminal offences that can attract up to five years of imprisonment and ₹1 crore in penalty.
Meity has also proposed setting up a designated authority to monitor the online gaming sector, with a total budget allocation of ₹70 crore, including ₹20 crore for recurring annual expenses.
The ministry and the three companies didn’t immediately reply to Mint’s emailed queries.
“Individuals have fallen victim to financial losses… sometimes resulting in extreme outcomes. Players are lured into a cycle with little awareness of risks or legal protections. These platforms frequently employ predatory monetization tactics… and reward systems designed to exploit psychological triggers to increase spending,” the bill states.
It adds that online gaming startups have also enabled financial fraud and money laundering.
Industry fears a wipeout
“If such a bill becomes law, then we’re staring at a game-changer for online gaming firms that are growing really fast and generating significant revenue. It will hit them hard,” said Sajan Poovayya, senior advocate at the Supreme Court.
“There is no doubt that such a law, if enacted, would be challenged in court. There is precedent of such challenges having been made before, especially since the proposed bill makes no effort to distinguish between a game of chance and skill—and paints any title with the same brush,” he added.
Mint reported on 19 August that the Supreme Court had wrapped up months of hearings that could decide the fate of the online real-money gaming industry. At the heart of the case is whether fantasy sports and online rummy should be treated as games of skill or as gambling.
“The bill leaves no room for interpretation, and correlates money games to gambling, which too is unconstitutional since gambling itself is a state subject,” said Jay Sayta, a technology and gaming lawyer who represents multiple online real-money gaming startups.
“The Centre’s legal move would basically destroy the startups in terms of being able to operate anywhere, and lead to interested players moving to offshore operators and play such games anyway,” he added.
In February, Mint reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs was hosting inter-ministerial meetings to understand the online gaming sector, as well as considering the possibility of bringing games that need to be played with real money under the Centre’s ambit.
During this process, a landmark set of hearings at the Supreme Court, which ended after five months on 12 August, offered opinion on the sector—including how titles such as rummy were not akin to gambling.
In 2023-24, Dream11, Gameskraft and Games24x7 accounted for ₹11,847 crore ($1.36 billion) in revenue from operations. Gaming investment firm Lumikai said that in FY24, the overall real-money gaming industry generated $2.4 billion in net revenue—out of a total revenue of $3.8 billion from the entire gaming industry, including advertisements, in-app purchases, and casual games.
Real-money games, therefore, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the industry’s revenue, which stakeholders fear will likely be wiped out unless the proposed law is amended.
