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India’s caller online gaming laws could spot offenders look up to 5 years successful prison.
Published On 22 Aug 2025
India’s parliament has passed a sweeping measure banning online gambling, aft authorities figures showed companies had stripped $2.3bn annually from 450 cardinal people.
The prohibition affects platforms for paper games, poker and phantasy sports, including India’s wildly fashionable homegrown phantasy cricket apps.
It besides leaves the destiny of the cardinal sponsor for India’s nationalist cricket squad successful question.
Dream11, India’s biggest phantasy sports gaming platform, was named connected July 2023 arsenic the country’s pb sponsor for 3 years, with its logo splashed connected Team India jerseys.
No announcement has been made by the Board of Control for Cricket successful India (BCCI) regarding that cardinal sponsor.
“If it’s not permissible, we’ll not bash anything,” BCCI caput Devajit Saikia said Friday. “The BCCI volition travel each argumentation of the state that is framed by the cardinal government.”
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill was passed by some houses of parliament precocious connected Thursday, and criminalises the offering, promotion and financing of specified games, with offenders facing up to 5 years successful prison.
Dream 11, successful a connection posted connected its website connected Friday, noted that, pursuing the passing of the bill, “cash games and contests person been discontinued”, but urged fans to “stay tuned”.
Other games remained online connected Friday, with the measure inactive needing to beryllium formally ratified by the president earlier taking effect.
“This authorities is designed to curb addiction, fiscal ruin and societal distress caused by predatory gaming platforms that thrive connected misleading promises of speedy wealth,” a authorities connection said.
India’s wider gaming manufacture is 1 of the largest markets successful the world, but the caller instrumentality carves retired exceptions for e-sports and acquisition games, which the authorities says volition beryllium promoted arsenic portion of the integer economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the caller instrumentality volition “encourage e-sports and online societal games” portion “at the aforesaid time, it volition prevention our nine from the harmful effects of online wealth games”.
The authorities said astir a 3rd of the world’s astir populous state had mislaid wealth gambling online.
Industry groups had urged regularisation and taxation alternatively than a broad ban, informing the determination could thrust players to amerciable offshore platforms.
But supporters of the measure argued that the societal costs are excessively precocious to allow.
Officials said the accelerated dispersed of gambling platforms had caused wide fiscal distress, addiction and adjacent suicide.
The authorities said it had besides been linked to fraud, wealth laundering and coercion financing.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the curate of technology, noted the instrumentality differentiates betwixt online “social” games and those played for money.
“It encourages e-sports, which are organised competitory video games, and promotes harmless online societal and acquisition games,” a authorities briefing enactment read.
“It intelligibly separates constructive integer recreation from betting, gambling and phantasy wealth games that exploit users with mendacious promises of profit.”
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
English (US) ·