THE UNION GOVERNMENT has introduced the draft ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025’ in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to promote and regulate esports, educational and social games, while imposing a complete prohibition on the offering, operation, facilitation, advertisement, promotion, and participation in online money games.
While the Bill is positioned as a framework to promote and regulate the wider online gaming sector — including esports, educational titles, and social gaming — it has emerged as a nightmare for ‘online money games’, with the draft legislation explicitly mandating their prohibition.
The Bill prohibits:
* No person shall offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise indulge or engage in the offering of online money game and online money gaming service.
* No person shall make, cause to be made, aid, abet, induce, or otherwise be involved in the making or causing to be made any advertisement, in any media including electronic means of communication, which directly or indirectly promotes or induces any person to play any online money game or indulge in any activity promoting online money gaming.
* No bank, financial institution, or any other person facilitating financial transactions or authorisation of funds shall engage in, permit, aid, abet, induce or otherwise facilitate any transaction or authorisation of funds towards payment for any online money gaming service.
Under the Bill, the Central Government is tasked with recognising and registering esports as a legitimate competitive sport in India and fostering its growth. Measures may include issuing guidelines for events, establishing training and research institutes, rolling out incentives and awareness campaigns, coordinating with state governments and sports federations, and implementing other initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem.
The distinction between esports and online money games
Esports means an online game played as part of multi-sport events and involves organized competitive events between individuals or teams, conducted in multiplayer formats governed by pre-defined rules and recognized under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025.
Online money games are defined as any online game, based on skill, chance, or both, where a user pays fees, deposits money, or stakes something with the expectation of winning monetary or equivalent rewards.
While the Bill signals a blanket ban on online money games, it is widely seen as a progressive step by esports and video gaming stakeholders.
NODWIN Gaming co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee said, “The government’s intent to recognize and promote esports, as highlighted in the recent bill, is an encouraging step towards building a structured and globally competitive ecosystem. However, for this vision to truly materialize, it is critical that the terminology used in the bill, particularly the distinctions between esports, online gaming, online social gaming, and online money gaming be clearly defined and uniformly understood. The absence of precise definitions has often led to ambiguity and conflation around the term ‘esports’. Such overlaps can create confusion not just for regulators, but also for players, teams, investors, and organizers who are working hard to build this industry. Clear and consistent definitions will create a strong regulatory foundation that ensures investor confidence, long-term stability, and sustainable growth. It will allow every stakeholder from athletes and teams to platforms and video game publishers to operate with clarity and confidence, knowing the industry’s guardrails are well established. This alignment between government intent and regulatory clarity will ensure that India doesn’t just participate in the global esports movement, but establishes itself as one of its leading powerhouses.”
S8UL co-founder and CEO Animesh Agarwal added, “This bill marks a historic turning point for Indian esports. By drawing a clear line between skill-based competitive gaming and betting, it safeguards the integrity of our ecosystem while opening doors for structured growth. Esports is a sport- built on skill, discipline and years of grind. With government recognition and the right infrastructure, India is now poised to become a global powerhouse in esports and gaming culture. The focus must now be on developing infrastructure such as arenas, bootcamps, education programs, and scholarships to nurture the next generation of talent, whether competing on the world stage or shaping culture as gaming creators.”
