Overview

• Parliament cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 in both houses, sending it for presidential assent and applying the prohibition to all money‑stake games irrespective of skill or chance while formally promoting e‑sports and social gaming.
• MPL and Zupee suspended real‑money offerings, Dream Sports paused ‘Pay to Play’ contests on new apps and is preparing broader shutdowns, Gameskraft halted ‘Add Cash’ and gameplay on rummy apps, and Probo paused recharges, with users told withdrawals remain available.
• The statute criminalises operating money games, advertising or endorsing them, and facilitating related payments, with penalties up to three years’ jail and Rs 1 crore for operators and up to two years and Rs 50 lakh for promoters, and it directs banks to block transactions.
• IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pointed to reported widespread losses, cases of addiction and suicides, and WHO’s classification of gaming disorder in explaining the ban’s public‑health and security rationale.
• Industry groups and executives signalled legal challenges are being prepared, state leaders warned of user flight to offshore platforms, listed exposures like Nazara flagged potential write‑downs, and Hike’s Rush said it will exit India to focus on the US and global markets.