As per the law, all the online games in which users pay, deposit and receive money or rewards are prohibited. All these games include Poker, Rummy, Online lottery and Betting apps.
The Indian government on August 21, 2025 (Thursday) passed “Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025.” The bill reportedly was introduced on August 20, 2025 (Wednesday), however, President’s approval is still awaited (being a formality).
As per the law, all the online games in which users pay, deposit and receive money or rewards are prohibited. All these games include Poker, Rummy, Online lottery and Betting apps.
Under this bill, all the promotions, advertisements and transactions related to this have been banned. The authorities have highlighted that banks or any other financial institutions are not allowed to facilitate the transfers related to such games.
Penalties for violating the Bill’s Regulations
There will reportedly be strict actions taken on violating the rules and regulations of the bill. The government has stated that the operators who will offer money games shall be booked, can have an imprisonment of up to three years or can be fined upto INR 1 crore.
While, for the advertisers, the punishment is different, say, 2 years imprisonment and penalty up to INR 50 Lakh. And, the ones repeating the offense may have to bear the fines up to INR 2 crore and an imprisonment of up to 5 years.
| CATEGORY | IMPRISONMENT | PENALTY |
| Operators | Up to 3 years | Up to INR 1 crore |
| Advertisers | Up to 2 years | Up to INR 50 lakh |
| Players | NIL | NIL |
Significantly, the authorities have mentioned that there will be no penalty charged to the players as they will be considered as victims and not the offenders.
Reportedly, the authorities have made E-sports and safe game promotions officially a legitimate sport. And, has claimed that the law has made it mandatory to establish training academics, research institutions, and awareness programs under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
This step has been taken as part of encouraging betterment in the public lifestyle. Such an action taken will provide an aid in preventing addiction, debt traps, money laundering, fraud cases and even suicides.
Its addiction has raised much of the issues in the past few years, highlighting the need for the action that has been taken by the authorities.
| Key Highlights to the Bill – Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. – Lok Sabha approved the bill on August 20, 2025. – Rajya Sabha cleared the legislation on August 21, 2025. – All money related games example, Zupee, Rummy has been banned. – Heavy penalties to be charged on the offenders. – No bank or financial institution is allowed to make such games related transactions. |
Bill’s Impact on Industry
Shortly after the bill was passed, major change was seen in the industry as it impacted strongly. Major players like Dream 11, Mobile Premier League, Zupee and many more collectives had values in the billions of dollars. Sudden downfall led them to suffer major threats.
Not only this, the stock prices are already down. If seen the records, Nazara Tech dropped by 21% over the two days and Delta corporation fell by 5%. Adding to it, the platforms like Dream 11, My11Circles have been the major sponsors in cricket and the ban on these has threatened the revenue streams.
With such an announcement of the authorities, heavy amounts invested on such games went into loss money in just a night. As per the reports, crores were invested for the advertisement purpose which vanished overnight.
