Long legal battle looms as govt pushes online gaming ban

The passage of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, marks a watershed moment in India's online gaming industry.

- ADARSH SOMANI & SAHIL KOTHARI

THE PASSAGE OF the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, marks a watershed moment in India's online gaming industry. The Bill stems from legitimate concerns of addiction, financial distress, fraud, and even the misuse of platforms for money laundering or terror financing.

On the one hand, the Bill promotes e-sports, educational and social gaming, acknowledging their place as legitimate components of India's digital economy. It also imposes a sweeping prohibition on all online money games, irrespective of whether they are games of skill or chance. The expeditious passage of the Bill raises a million-dollar question: Whether the government has the competence to do so? This question will certainly be tested in courts, especially because the courts have distinguished between games of skill and games of chance and the former has enjoyed protection under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The courts have also repeatedly struck down blanket bans that do not respect this distinction.

Further, the legislation also raises questions of legislative competence. Gambling and betting fall under the State List. By asserting central supremacy and providing that its provisions prevail in case of conflict, the Bill arguably encroaches on the State's powers. This creates a fault line in India's federal structure, one that could become a flashpoint in future litigation and political debate.