The Union Cabinet has cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, banning real-money games while promoting esports and educational gaming. With India’s $3.7 billion gaming industry heavily reliant on RMG formats, leaders like Shashi Tharoor, Nishikant Dubey, and Priyank Kharge weigh in on the bill’s impact, calling it either necessary regulation or a knee-jerk reaction.
Banning online games knee-jerk move, will push industry underground: Opposition
After the Union Cabinet cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, India’s online gaming giants are staring at a potential crisis. The bill seeks to promote e-sports while regulating money-driven platforms, such as online gambling-style games — referred to in the bill as “money games” — where cash or valuables are at stake. Industry leaders like Dream11, Games24x7, WinZO, and others now find themselves under heightened scrutiny.
The bill promoting and regulating the online gaming sector, including e-sports, educational games and social gaming was introduced in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
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The bill aims to provide for the appointment of an authority for coordinated policy support, strategic development and regulatory oversight of the sector.
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What does the bill says?
The bill proposes to put a blanket ban on real-money gaming transactions irrespective of gaming involving skill or chance. Once the law comes into force, anything involving money stakes will be prohibited.
#MonsoonSession2025 | I&B Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw introduces The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 in Lok Sabha.@MIB_India @sansad_tv #monsoonsession #OnlineGamingBill2025 pic.x.com/0rDXelIgnU
— DD India (@DDIndialive) August 20, 2025
The bill aims to make advertisement for such platforms illegal. It proposes to block banks and financial institutions from procession transactions related to ‘money games’. People who violate the act can face up to three years in jail and fines, as per the draft.
India’s online gaming market, currently worth $3.7 billion and expected to reach $9.1 billion by 2029, is heavily reliant on real-money games, which account for nearly 86% of its revenues. The new bill poses a potential disruption to this dominant segment.
What does leaders says on online gaming bill?
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on the online gambling bill said that by banning the online games, teh government would drive the market underground and criminal mafias would step in.
He said “I had written an article earlier stating that by banning online gaming, we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could actually serve as a useful source of revenue for the government if legalised, regulated, and taxed. In my view, many countries have studied this issue in great detail and concluded that legalising and taxing online gaming allows governments to generate funds that can be used for various worthy causes.”
He added, “When you ban it, unfortunately, it goes underground, and that’s where criminal mafias step in and profit from it. I don’t know why the government has chosen this path, but this is the stand they’ve taken. And with Parliament not functioning effectively, the bill will likely be passed without any proper discussion.”
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey reacted to Union Cabinet approving a bill related to the promotion and regulation of online gaming and said, “Modi ji has introduced major legislations keeping the welfare of the poor in mind. Among them, online gaming has become highly accessible. Recently, there have been many cases of youth suicides due to losses in online gaming and gambling.”
Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge called the ban on online real money gaming is a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ and that the regulation is the way forward.
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