Probo, India’s leading opinion trading platform, has responded to the recently introduced Online Gaming Bill 2025, acknowledging the government’s intent to create a safer and more transparent digital ecosystem. While welcoming the focus on consumer protection and regulatory clarity, Probo cautioned that a blanket ban on all real-money games (RMGs) could unintentionally restrict innovation and limit the sector’s growth potential.
The Online Gaming Bill represents a major step toward safeguarding stakeholders, including consumers, employees, vendors, investors, and promoters. It aims to accelerate the adoption of e-sports and online social games, establish a central regulatory authority, and ensure a level playing field for the rapidly growing digital gaming economy in India.
However, Probo emphasized that a more balanced regulatory framework could better protect consumers, generate sustainable tax revenue, create jobs, and prevent users from migrating to unregulated platforms. The company highlighted the unique value of opinion trading, globally recognized as information or prediction markets, which go beyond gaming by serving as a tool for economic insight, information aggregation, and forecasting.
Anurag Dhandhi, Business Head at Probo, said, “In India, opinion trading has been characterised as a game. However, in the U.S., it is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market—a financial market for information exchange and trading. Opinion trading enables users to apply judgment, knowledge, and analysis to real-world developments. By fostering informed and responsible participation, it goes beyond entertainment and contributes to financial literacy, data-driven decision-making, and the broader digital economy.”
Dhandhi urged the government to recognize opinion trading as a permissible skill-based activity, advocating for a differentiated regulatory approach rather than a blanket prohibition. According to Probo, formal recognition would unlock socio-economic benefits such as digital inclusion, employment opportunities, innovation, democratization of trading, and combatting misinformation.
“As India shapes the future of its online gaming industry, we are committed to collaborating with regulators to establish opinion trading as a recognized, skill-based format. This clarity is paramount to safeguarding users, fostering responsible innovation, and unlocking substantial economic value—ultimately positioning India as a pioneer of a transformative, regulated technology sector on the global stage,” added Dhandhi.
Probo’s statement underscores the growing need for nuanced policies that balance regulation, consumer protection, and innovation, ensuring that India’s emerging digital economy continues to thrive while remaining globally competitive.
