The MeitY secretary also explained that the bill promotes e-sports and online social games, while banning real-money games that involve monetary stakes.
20 Aug 2025, 02:54 PM IST i
20 Aug 2025, 02:54 PM IST
20 Aug 2025, 02:54 PM IST
The Online Gaming Bill has been presented in Parliament. (Image Source: MeitY)
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The Online Gaming Bill has been presented in Parliament. (Image Source: MeitY)
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As the Centre tables the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 in Parliament, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan has laid out the government’s vision behind the legislation, stating that the intent is to make India the “game development capital of the world”.
In an exclusive interaction with NDTV Profit, Krishnan addressed the long-standing legal ambiguity around skill versus chance and regulations surround it.
Under list one of the constitution, as per item 41 and 42, “the Government of India can legislate” on the matter, explained Krishnan.
“There are no games of pure chance. Most games are a mix of skill and chance, and this grey area has been exploited to avoid regulation,” he noted. He further said, “This combination is being used, as state governments cannot legislate in the area as they are only empowered to regulate betting and gambling, being an item under the state list”
He further explained that many of these games are offered either on interstate or cross broader trade and commerce and therefore “it is legitimately within the government of India’s remit to legislate on this.”
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“There is a large ecosystem here, and the government believes it has the potential to position India globally in game development,” he said, adding that several measures have already been taken to facilitate this shift, including policy support and infrastructure development.
Distingushing Segments Of Gaming Industry
Krishnan emphasised that the Bill is designed to differentiate between segments of the gaming industry. “One part of the sector is causing social and financial distress linked to addiction and problematic behaviour”, he said.
“But the other part is positively oriented, focused on development, creativity, and education. The government’s intent is very clear. This portion needs to be encouraged.” He further explained that the bill promotes e-sports and online social games, while banning real-money games that involve monetary stakes.
Earlier on Tuesday, the government introduced The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. The proposed legislation will promote e-sports, and create regulatory body to perform any functions related to online games and online social games.
The Bill prohibits real money gaming, i.e., wherein a user makes a deposit using banking channel, in cash or any digital currency, with the expectation of monetary rewards on that deposit. And in doing so, it prevents any person to use financial channels to transfer funds by a bank or financial entity to make payment for any online money games.
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