Blanket ban ineffective

While Addressing Offshore Gambling Concerns, Proposed Law Can Be a Bad Bet for Digital Economy

- RAMEESH KAILASAM

On Tuesday, the Centre introduced Bill No. 110 of 2025, titled The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, in the Lok Sabha, which was passed without much discussion. This Bill is the complete opposite of the government's approach to online gaming, moving away from the earlier amended Information Technology Intermediary Rules in April 2023.

The Bill, while attempting to address the concerns of Indian online gaming start-ups about illegal offshore gambling and betting platforms, has ended up shutting down all real money gaming formats in the country. This signals the end of online gaming start-ups and the sector's foreign direct investment (FDI) story in India.

Multiple states have attempted to ban online gaming formats by regularly confusing companies with inconsistent definitions of gambling and betting. Various high court verdicts have overturned the bans till date. Even formats have been challenged all the way till the Supreme Court, and these have been turned down for many real money gaming formats. This Bill could potentially be challenged in court if it is passed similarly in Rajya Sabha, considering that many courts in India have overturned such bans.

While the Bill proposes to encourage e-sports and online social games, it proposes a blanket ban on online games that involves any kind of payment—be it users paying a fee, depositing money, or staking other assets with the expectation of a monetary win.