In a stunning display of political speed and precision, the Indian government has executed what many in the tech sector are calling a “ninja strike” on the country’s booming real money gaming (RMG) industry. Within just 96 hours, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 was tabled, debated, and passed – leaving the sector gasping for breath.
The bill’s passage triggered an immediate shutdown of real money services by top gaming firms such as Dream11, MPL, Gameskraft, Games24x7, A23, Zupee, PokerBaazi and WinZO. Collectively, these companies had built a user base of hundreds of millions, created over two lakh jobs, and attracted ₹25,000 crore in foreign direct investment. But by Friday afternoon, with President Droupadi Murmu giving her assent, the industry as India knew it had been erased.
The sequence of events still reads like a thriller. On August 19, the Union Cabinet cleared the draft bill. Within hours, it was introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha on the evening of August 20. On August 21, the Rajya Sabha cleared it with minimal debate. Desperate letters were being fired off to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah from industry bodies like the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), and E-Gaming Federation (EGF), pleading for intervention.
Yet nothing slowed the momentum. By August 22, the bill had presidential assent. “It was like being hit by a freight train,” said a senior policy executive at a leading gaming company. “We were expecting a draft discussion paper—not the end of the entire industry.”
The speed was deliberate. Government officials have defended the blitzkrieg approach as necessary to prevent lobbying or dilutions. One senior official privately described it as “a clean surgical strike to end a sector riddled with confusion and social harm.”
Industry missed the bus
The government’s stated reason for the ban is to safeguard national interest and eliminate societal harm caused by online wagering. Officials point to youth addiction, financial distress, and links between gaming platforms and money laundering networks. They also argue that the industry itself failed to regulate.
Back in 2023, amended IT rules had mandated the creation of self-regulatory bodies (SRBs). But despite multiple rounds of consultation, the industry could not unite on common standards. Rival factions of fantasy sports firms, rummy operators, and gaming federations bickered endlessly over definitions and compliance.
“The government is right — the industry shot itself in the foot,” admitted one gaming federation member. “Our inability to agree on SRBs, the endless litigation, and the visible infighting confused policymakers. We looked divided and opportunistic, which gave the government the perfect excuse to bring the hammer down.”
For employees, the consequences are immediate and devastating. Several firms have already begun mass layoffs. “I’ve been told my role is redundant,” said a mid-level communications manager at a gaming firm. “They’ve put us on notice with a couple of months’ salary. I’m applying outside the sector now because there is no future left here.”
A top policy executive from a gaming firm said, “I feel like an idiot, people like me were completely caught off-guard. There was no information on such development until the cabinet cleared the bill. The entire industry was in complete shock as to what hit them. We were all waiting for the draft bill on August 19 and when we saw it, we were shocked, the entire RMG industry was to shut.”
For operations staff, coders, designers, and marketers—the thousands who kept RMG apps running—the uncertainty is worse. “Free-to-play is not a sustainable model,” said a senior executive. “You can’t pay salaries on banner ads. This was an industry built on entry fees, not giveaways.”
Industry leaders are gearing up for legal challenges, drawing inspiration from earlier court battles that shaped India’s gaming landscape. The names Chamarbaugwala, Lakshmanan, and Satyanarayana are being invoked once again. Their landmark cases decades ago established that games of skill are legal under Indian law.
But this time, the stakes are far higher. Storyboard18 had earlier reported that the industry is now preparing to move the Karnataka High Court, arguing that a blanket ban violates constitutional protections and undermines legitimate skill-based businesses.
Illegal betting firms to flood and flourish
The cost of this legislative blitz is staggering. According to industry bodies, the shutdown vaporizes an enterprise valuation of over ₹2 lakh crore, annual revenues of ₹31,000 crore, and annual tax contributions exceeding ₹20,000 crore. At a time when India is chasing FDI, the online skill gaming ecosystem had already attracted ₹25,000 crore in foreign investment. All of that now faces write-downs.
Worse, insiders warn, the ban creates fertile ground for offshore operators. Illegal betting websites such as Parimatch, 1xBet, and Dafabet — already accused of hawala transactions and money laundering — will likely fill the void. “This bill is a death knell for legitimate Indian operators,” said AIGF, FIFS and EGF in a letter to Amit Shah. “Instead of protecting users, it risks exposing them to fly-by-night offshore networks with zero consumer safeguards.”
The irony is bitter. By targeting tax-paying Indian platforms while failing to control foreign black-market operators, critics argue the government is strengthening the very networks it claims to fear.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 introduces one of the world’s toughest enforcement regimes against money games. Offering RMG services could now mean up to three years in jail, a ₹1 crore fine, or both. Repeat offenders face mandatory three-to-five years in prison and fines up to ₹2 crore.
Advertising such platforms is equally risky, with penalties up to three years in jail. Even banks or intermediaries processing payments can be punished. Offences are cognizable and non-bailable, giving authorities sweeping powers to arrest without warrant.
“The government has set the tone — they see online money gaming not as an industry but as a socio-economic threat,” said a legal analyst. “That’s why the penalties resemble those for organized crime.”
As India closes the chapter on its domestic real money gaming industry, lakhs of livelihoods hang in balance. The move may safeguard citizens from addiction and financial ruin, but it also extinguishes a homegrown sector that had the potential to become a global force.
For now, one fact is clear: India’s gaming dream has been checkmated in record time. The government’s blitzkrieg has left behind stunned entrepreneurs, jobless workers, and an open field for offshore black markets. Whether courts can reverse the tide—or whether the ban becomes permanent—remains the billion-dollar question.
