{"id":6654,"date":"2025-08-20T16:49:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/govts-online-gaming-bill-a-balanced-attempt-to-regulate-sector-says-it-secretary-business-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:49:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:49:52","slug":"govts-online-gaming-bill-a-balanced-attempt-to-regulate-sector-says-it-secretary-business-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/govts-online-gaming-bill-a-balanced-attempt-to-regulate-sector-says-it-secretary-business-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt’s Online Gaming Bill A ‘Balanced Attempt’ To Regulate Sector, Says IT Secretary | Business News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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‘This is a balanced bill. We have protected the creative aspects and the element of gaming \u2014 be it social games or esports,’ S Krishnan, secretary at MeitY.<\/h2>\n
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India’s gaming industry has seen rapid growth in recent years, attracting billions in investment and hundreds of millions of users.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The government\u2019s proposed bill to ban real-money online gaming is a \u201cbalanced” measure designed to protect users while giving regulatory clarity to the industry, according to a top official.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a balanced bill. We have protected the creative aspects and the element of gaming \u2014 be it social games or esports,” S Krishnan, secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), told Moneycontrol<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, cleared by the Union Cabinet on August 19, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

According to the bill, it will be prohibited to offer, aid, abet or induce any online money games or services. An \u201conline money game” is defined as one played with a fee, deposit, or stake in the expectation of winning monetary rewards, regardless of whether it is a game of skill or chance.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s gaming industry has seen rapid growth in recent years, attracting billions in investment and hundreds of millions of users. However, this rise has also led to concerns around addiction, financial distress, and debt cycles among lower-income groups.<\/p>\n

Krishnan told Moneycontrol<\/em> that the proposed law addresses the industry\u2019s own demand for regulatory clarity. \u201cThe industry itself sought clarity \u2014 and we have provided it. Gaming is not a monolithic industry. This bill puts all other AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) games in clear light,” he said.<\/p>\n

Importantly, he clarified that the legislation does not penalise players but places accountability on platforms. \u201cThere is no criminalisation of players. We have only set rules for the platforms providing these money games,” he said.<\/p>\n

On concerns about enforcement \u2014 particularly curbing offshore operators and users accessing banned platforms via VPNs \u2014 Krishnan acknowledged challenges but insisted the government is \u201cfully prepared” to deal with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fully understand that there will be technical and implementation challenges with respect to offshore gaming platforms, VPNs,” he told Moneycontrol<\/em>. \u201cWe are fully prepared to fight it.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, industry associations have sounded alarm over the proposed legislation. In a joint letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, three leading bodies \u2014 the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), the E-Gaming Federation (EGF) and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) \u2014 warned that a blanket ban would \u201cstrike a death knell” for India\u2019s legitimate online skill gaming industry, endanger over 200,000 jobs, and push players towards unregulated offshore platforms.<\/p>\n

The associations, representing companies such as Dream11, Games24x7, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Nazara Technologies, Zupee, and Head Digital Works, argued that the move would undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s $1 trillion digital economy vision.<\/p>\n

They highlighted that the sector has generated more than Rs 31,000 crore in revenues, contributed over Rs 20,000 crore annually in direct and indirect taxes, and is expected to grow at a 20% CAGR to double in size by 2028. India\u2019s overall gaming industry, driven largely by real-money gaming apps, is projected to cross $9.2 billion in revenue by FY29.<\/p>\n

The industry includes three unicorns \u2014 Dream11, Games24x7 and MPL \u2014 and is one of the few digital segments in India with multiple profitable companies.<\/p>\n

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Mohammad Haris<\/a><\/p>\n

Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Stay updated with all the latest business news, including market trends<\/a>,\u00a0stock updates<\/a>,\u00a0tax<\/a>, IPO,\u00a0banking finance<\/a>, real estate, savings and investments. To Get in-depth analysis, expert opinions, and real-time updates. Click here<\/a> to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. Also Download the\u00a0News18 App<\/a> to stay updated.<\/span><\/div>\n
News<\/a> business<\/a> Govt’s Online Gaming Bill A ‘Balanced Attempt’ To Regulate Sector, Says IT Secretary<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:August 20, 2025, 16:57 IST ‘This is a balanced bill. We have protected the creative aspects and the element of gaming \u2014 be it social games or esports,’ S Krishnan, secretary at MeitY. India’s gaming industry has seen rapid growth in recent years, attracting billions in investment and hundreds of millions of users. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}