India’s Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday passed a comprehensive online gaming bill, promoting asports and casual gaming without monetary stakes, impose blankets on real-mani games-which threaten to disrupt billions of dollars in investment and affect the real-mani gaming industry a lot, which can look into a comprehensive shutdown.
The title of online gaming bill, promotion and regulation of 2025, law aims to restrict the nationwide real-mani games-based on the skill or chance-and ban both their advertising and concerned financial transactions, as Techcrunch had previously reported based on its draft version.
Inaugurating the Bill, India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in Parliament, “In this bill, the welfare of the society has been given priority and to avoid a great evil in the society,”
The proposed law prevents banks and other financial institutions from allowing transactions for real-affairs games in the country. Any person offering these games can face imprisonment for three years, ₹ 10 million (about $ 115,000), or fine of both. Additionally, celebrities promoting such sports on any media platform may have imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of 5 million (about $ 57,000), said in the bill.
Vaishnav said that the decision to bring the law was to address several losses of losses, including cases where individuals died of suicide after losing money in sports. However, the stakeholders of the industry indicate these incidents to a large extent for offshore betting and gambling apps, which many people believe will not be addressed by this law.
“This law is obliged to face litigation as it fails to tested proportions under Article 19 (1) (G),” said Meghna Bal, director of the Think-Tank Asia Center in New Delhi. “Instead of protecting consumers, this illegal offshore betting destroys obedient onshore companies that are the real source of financial loss, opening wide doors to platforms.”
Article 19 (1) of the Constitution of India empowers citizens to practice any profession or to carry forward any business, business or business.
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Beyond the introduction of the bill in the Indian Parliament, the industry bodies wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening, urged him to intervene. The letter-Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, All India Gaming Federation, and e-Gaming Federation, which was reviewed by Techcrunch-Warned that the proposed law could benefit “illegal upset gambling operations”, forcing the proposed law to close Indian businesses. These industry bodies represent Dream Sports, MPL, Winzo, Gamescraft, Nazara Technologies and Zupei, among other real-mani gaming companies.
The letter stated that by closing the regulated and responsible Indian platforms, it (millions) will run the players in the hands of the illegal matka network, offshore gambling websites and fly-by-night operators, working without any safety measures, consumer safety, or taxation. (Matka is a form of illegal gamble that has originated in India, including betting on random number.)
Three industry bodies estimated that real-land gaming startups in India have a joint venture assessment of ₹ 2 trillion (about $ 23 billion), generates cumulative revenue of ₹ 310 billion (about $ 3.6 billion), and contributes annually and 200 billion (about $ 2.29 billion). They also offer a 28% compound annual growth rate that will double the size of the industry by 2028. Industry groups warned that the blanket ban could result in loss of over 200,000 jobs and more than 400 companies could be discontinued.
A similar letter was written to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah by these three industry associations. Some Indian and global investors are also calibrating their response, a person familiar to Techcrunch. The source did not want to name the name, as the plans are not yet public.
Publicly listed Nazara Technologies, who first invested in real-mani gaming platforms including pokerbazi and classic Rummi, saw a 12.84% decline in the price of its stock on Wednesday, which closed at ₹ 1,220 (about $ 14). The company, however, was first clarified in one Stock exchange filed ,
Dream Sports and MPL, two of the top real-mani gaming startups, refused to comment, while another popular real-mani startup Winzo did not respond.
The bill was passed by noise vote by noise vote for less than seven minutes after being introduced for debate. It now requires the approval of a law to become a law from the upper house and the President.
Meanwhile, some companies have welcomed the move in casual gaming and asports.
“We appreciate this decision because it allows us to focus on the concerns going on as a business-Mudrikation, Retention, and most importantly that the creation of great IP for India and the world, but to explain to our audience that we are to start with what we are with,” Sumit Batheja, CEO and Jeanjar Games co-founded the Indian Gaming. Hyper Games of Hyper Gaming.
Crafton is the South Korean gaming company behind the popular Battle Royal Game PUBG.
Akshat Rathi, co-founder and managing director of Asports Company Nodwin Gaming, who is also a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, said that the law needs to be a clear difference between asports, online gaming, online social gaming and online money gaming that is clearly defined and equally understood.
He said, “The absence of accurate definitions has often caused ambiguity and conflict around the word ‘asports’. Not for such overlap regulators, but also for players, teams, investors and organizers, who are working hard to build this industry,” he said.
BAL also told Techcrunch that the bill “reduces the asports”, as an authority established by the Government of India would decide the validity of ESPORTS.
He said, “This effect is beyond real money gaming for the broad ecosystem of businesses which depend on it and actually present serious implications for the AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming and comics) sectors.”
In 2023, Government of India Amendment Information technology (arbitration guidelines and digital media ethics codes), 2021, proposed self-control bodies to limit illegal betting and gambling, to curb “user loss” from real-wealth games and allowed legitimate games. However, self-regulation approaches staggered due to enforcement and conflict between industry stakeholders on standards.
New Delhi imposed 28% tax on online gaming in 2023, which to prevent real-related games, to prevent an outrage from the stakeholders of the industry. To reconsider Modi, including top investor-tiger global, peak XV partners, and Kotak, warning of $ 2.5 billion in the right-off and a possible loss of a million jobs. However, tax, place remained, even companies challenged its retrospective application in the Supreme Court. Recent reports suggest that it can be revised up to 40% under the new rules.
Rohit Kumar, founder partner of New Delhi -based public policy firm The Quantum Hub, told Techcrunch that the actual problem with the new bill is lacking.
He said, “Regulation is essential, but reduces India’s reputation as a stable, approximate investment destination. If concerns exist, the government should have clearly indicated them from the beginning,” he said.
