The bill, officially known as the 2025 Online Games Development and Management Project, was promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government, arguing that such games pose a high risk of financial losses and could cause long-term psychological damage. Lawmakers see the move as a necessary step to address what they call an on-site social evils.
Individuals who provide or support online games with real money can be imprisoned for up to 3 years and fined more than 115,000 USD. Celebrities who advertise for these platforms can also spend 2 years in prison and pay a fine of nearly 60,000 USD.
This decision has dealt a heavy blow to the online gaming industry in India. According to market statistics, online games in India have a scale of 23 billion USD, bringing in a cumulative revenue of 3.6 billion USD and a high growth rate, bringing hundreds of thousands of jobs to everyone.
According to Phone Arena, with the support of major investors, India's fantasy sports and real-time games platforms have developed rapidly, attracting millions of users to create cricket teams on Dream11, play rummy and poker on Games24x7 or participate in awards on the Mobile Premier League.
After the Indian government's decision, the future of these companies has been questioned. Hours after the ban, some of India's largest platforms, including Dream11, PokerBaazi and Mobile Premier League, have suspended their money-making game features.
Industry executives are bracing for the laydown, shutdown, and collapse of an ecosystem that attracts billions of dollars in foreign funding and provides tens of thousands of jobs, which is becoming increasingly obvious.
At the same time, game associations and company leaders are preparing for legal challenges. They argue that the government has rushed to pass the bill without consulting, that this across-the-board definition includes unfairly skills-based games like poker, and that the measure risks erasing a legitimate and rapidly growing field.
