India’s parliament passed a bill on Thursday banning online games played with real money, a move that could wipe out the country’s fast-growing nearing $3.6 billion fantasy gaming industry and put thousands of jobs at risk once it receives presidential assent.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 notes that no person “shall offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise indulge or engage in” the offering of money and other such services in online games. This 13-page bill, which has been reviewed by Reuters, cites high risk of financial losses and psychological harm to players. It describes an online money game as one played by a user by depositing money in expectation of winning monetary and other enrichment.
“The lack of a coherent and enabling legal framework has hindered the sector’s structured development and the promotion of responsible gaming practices, requiring urgent policy intervention and support mechanisms,” the bill’s introduction said.
The bill provides for the creation of an authority that will promote e-sports, which the government is keen to develop as a creative and recreational industry. “The parallel proliferation of online money games accessible through mobile phones, computers and the internet, and offering monetary returns against user deposits has led to serious social, financial, psychological and public health harms, particularly among young individuals and economically disadvantaged groups,” the bill also noted.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that online games “have become a matter of great concern in our society,” while moving the bill in the parliament. “Many people get addicted, lifetime savings evaporate in games, and with the algorithms in use, there may be untold levels of fraud and cheating,” he added.
The Indian market for the online gaming industry is set to be worth $3.6 billion by 2029, according to data from venture capital firm Lumikal. Endorsement by top cricketers and other marketing efforts have boosted the popularity of these games, as well as investor interest in them. One such app, Dream11 has a valuation of $8 billion, while another, Mobile Premium League is valued at $2.5 billion, PitchBook data shows.
Tariq Khan, cofounder of India’s biggest online gaming firm Games24x7, told The American Bazaar that a proposed, short-sighted regulation threatens to erase a decade of innovation and investment in India’s booming digital gaming sector.
This bill also prompts the fear of loss of billions of dollars in foreign investment from the likes of venture capital firms like Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners for gaming industry executives.
Online bodies representing India’s online skill-gaming sector had previously written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking his “urgent intervention” against this bill. The federations claimed in a joint letter, that such a blanket prohibition would be a “death knell” for the industry, destroying jobs and pushing crores of users towards illegal offshore betting and gambling platforms.