Winners and losers: What is Online Gaming Bill 2025, and what will it impact? Explained

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, was passed in the Parliament on August 21, 2025. This landmark bill has stirred many conversations regarding the future of the gaming industry in India, the protection of gamers in India and the trajectory of leading platforms, including Mobile Premier League (MPL), Zupee, Dream Sports, Gameskraft and Probo.

Before getting into what this entails for Indian gamers, here is the bill explained in simple takeaways:

• The bill has banned all real-money games, irrespective of whether they’re based on skill or chance.

• It prohibits advertisements of money games and bars banks.

• Banks and financial institutions have been restricted from processing payments related to harmful online money games.

• The bill provides for setting up a statutory authority, the national online gaming authority, to regulate gaming in India and ensure compliance. It will categorise games and determine the ones that qualify as money-based, and will also be responsible for handling complaints and grievances.

• Under the bill provisions, eSports will be recognised and promoted in India; games played for fun and in social environments will be encouraged with the establishment of training academies, research centres and technology platforms. More on this later.

• For companies that get involved or facilitate online money gaming, the bill provides for a fine of up to ₹1 crore and/or imprisonment up to three years.

• Advertising these money-based games can attract a fine of up to ₹50 lakh and can also lead to imprisonment for up to two years.

• Financial transaction(s) related to money games can result in imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to ₹1 crore. Further, repeated offences can attract penalties of up to ₹2 crore, along with a jail sentence of up to 3 to 5 years.

• The bill, however, does not criminalise anyone playing online money games, as the government believes them to be the victims of these money-based gaming platforms. The fines and jail time are for entities that facilitate and promote these online money games.

Is this bill a good move?

The value of the Indian gaming industry is estimated to be $25 billion, supporting over 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs. The industry attracted over ₹25,000 crore as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) until June 2022.

The gaming bodies, earlier this week, warned that a blanket ban like this (with a ban on all real-money games, including those based on skill) would be a ‘death knell’ for the industry. The ban would destroy jobs and push crores of users towards illegal offshore betting and gambling platforms, the industry bodies said in a letter.

"Such a blanket prohibition would strike a death knell for this legitimate, job-creating industry, and would cause serious harm to Indian users and citizens. This Bill, if passed, will cause serious harm to Indian users and citizens. By shutting down regulated and responsible Indian platforms, it will drive crores of players into the hands of illegal matka networks, offshore gambling websites, and fly-by-night operators who operate without any safeguards, consumer protections, or taxation,” the industry bodies said.

However, the government believes that this bill was much needed and would save millions of Indians from the harm that betting and gambling cause.

According to the data provided by the Indian Government, as of early 2025, nearly 45 crore people have been negatively affected by playing online money games such as rummy, poker, fantasy sports, etc., losing over ₹25,000 crore. The rampant use of these games has created severe risks for people and their families.

“The rapid spread of online money games has created serious risks for individuals, families and the nation. While digital technology has brought many benefits, these games have exploited loopholes in the law and caused deep social harm. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that according to an estimate, 45 crore people are negatively affected by online money games and face a loss of more than ₹20,000 crores because of it. The Government has acted to close these gaps and protect citizens,” a government release dated August 21 said.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said that this bill is aimed at protecting society, mainly middle-class youth, from getting stuck in the trap of these betting-based games.

"A significant number of young persons and economically vulnerable individuals have been adversely impacted by the seamless availability of these games, driven by the low cost of internet access, the ubiquity of mobile and computing devices, and the ease of app-based participation," Vaishnaw said.

He also said that aggressive promotional campaigns and the use of celebrity endorsements worsen this problem, enhancing the appeal of these platforms and luring more people in.

Recognising the importance of the gaming industry and the contribution of the sector to the country’s economy, it aims to promote eSports and social games. The government believes this bill to be necessary to ensure a structured and innovation-friendly digital environment.

“At the same time, the online gaming sector is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing segments of the digital and creative economy. India is emerging as a major game-making hub with rapidly developing capabilities. The sector offers immense opportunities for innovation, employment generation and global competitiveness. However, there is a lack of a coherent and enabling legal framework that can promote structured growth of the sector and allow responsible gaming practices to evolve. Urgent policy intervention was therefore required for the sector,” the release states.

Here are the key reasons cited by the government for introducing the bill, as per the official release:

• Addiction and financial ruin
• Mental health and suicides
• Fraud and money laundering
• Threat to national security
• Closing legal loopholes
• Encouraging healthy alternatives

A zero-sum game

These gaming platforms work on a zero-sum model: a situation where one person's gain leads to another person's loss, and the net result is zero. Unlike productive sectors of the economy, in which both consumers and producers benefit (like if you buy a phone, you get utility and the company earns profit), real-money gaming platforms rely on one participant’s loss for another’s profit.

For every user who wins money, there are many who lose, and the platform takes a cut in between, making it inherently harmful for most.

The net gains and losses among users balance out to zero, but in reality, players end up losing money, and platforms technically win by charging commissions.

Road ahead

This comes down to what is more important: the promise of jobs, innovation and investment, or the risk of financial and social harm.

The government now seeks protection for gamer ‘victims’, and the industry seeks growth. The two can’t co-exist, as both come at the expense of the other.

This bill might hurt innovation and investment, but it can save millions of people from continued exploitation.

However, it can also push more people to explore illegal options, now even more after the blanket ban, where there is no regulation to begin with. There seems to be little room for a middle ground.

While the government might have the right intentions behind the bill, it is far from perfect. Now, whether it ends up resulting in a healthier gaming environment for the country or just a major setback for the sector with more illegal (and harmful) options for users is yet to be seen.