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ARTICLE · 15 SEPTEMBER 2025

Online Gaming Act, 2025: Game Over For RMG?

Kochhar & Co.
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India's real money gaming ecosystem experienced a seismic shift recently with the enactment of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.

IndiaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Shiv Sapra
Shiv Sapra
Aviral Tripathi
Aviral Tripathi
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India's real money gaming ecosystem experienced a seismic shift recently with the enactment of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. On first impression, the name of the act promises a benign regime for the online gaming industry. Nomenclature notwithstanding, the act reflects a bifurcated approach: promoting non-monetary forms of gaming such as esports and online social games, while imposing an across-the-board blanket prohibition on online money games.

This is game over for an industry that had ballooned into a multibillion-dollar behemoth in India. Real money gaming (RMG) also encompasses activities such as online poker, rummy and fantasy sports. Until this point, these were considered games of skill rather than chance, and had protections in the form of legal precedents. But the new act seems disconnected from the difference. If there is any cash involved, it is illegal, period.

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