Gaming ban, 5G deliver an options push

From gaming apps to trading apps—market veterans say a combination of a ban on online money gaming, expanding 5G connectivity, and the enduring human urge to speculate may be drawing a section of gamers to weekly index options trading through mobile apps, helping push mobile phone trading as a mode of dabbling in these contracts to a record high.

- Ram Sahgal & Krishna Yadav

Mobile trading accounted for 30.9% of index options’ premium turnover—the actual value of options contracts traded—at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in May, up 4.9 percentage points from a year earlier, per exchange data. This mode of trading stands second only to colocation.

“The ban on online (money) gaming last year has driven erstwhile users to weekly index options trading on their mobile phones, thanks to broker apps which are easily downloadable on phones for trading on the go,” said independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga.

Weekly Nifty and Sensex options, permitted under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regulations, expire on Tuesday and Thursday of each week, respectively.

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which bans online money gaming, came into effect only on 1 May this year. However, uncertainty surrounding the proposed restrictions weighed on the industry for months, forcing platforms such as MPL, Dream11 and Paytm First Games to reduce or discontinue parts of their real-money gaming businesses.