New Delhi, 21 Aug

Parliament on Thursday passed a bill to ban all forms of online money games and promote eSports and online social gaming, with the Rajya Sabha approving it without debate amid din.

Piloting the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 in the Upper House, Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said the legislation will promote two-thirds of the online gaming segment. The bill, he said, will ban online money games, which have become a big problem for society, especially middle-class youth.

The bill was approved by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"There is addiction. The family's savings are lost. It is estimated that 45 crore people have fallen victim to it. More than Rs 20,000 crore of our middle-class families' hard-earned money has been destroyed," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said the World Health Organization has declared it a gaming disorder.

"The International Classification of Diseases, ICD-11, has declared it a gaming disorder. Online money gaming has become a public health risk -- psychological disorders, compulsive behaviour, withdrawal symptoms, violent behaviour...are being caused by this," he added.

The bill also seeks to prohibit advertisements related to online money games, as well as bars banks and financial institutions from facilitating or transferring funds for any of such games.

The minister said that to stop this problem, measures have been taken in the past, including a self-regulation mechanism, but the menace of online money games continued to rise.

Vaishnaw cited several suicide cases reported in the media, including an instance where a youth lost his mother's cancer treatment money in online games and died by suicide.

"This problem has become similar to drugs. There are powerful people behind online money games. They will challenge in the courts. They will run campaigns through media and social media, but when it comes to defending our middle-class families and youth, then for Modi ji it is only middle-class families and youth," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said the trail of money spent in online games has also been seen aiding money laundering and terror activities.

Vaishnaw said the Opposition's non-participation in the discussion over the bill reflects that they are only interested in their political objectives and not interested in talking about the welfare of youth and middle-class families.

The bill was approved by the Upper House after rejecting amendments moved by Opposition members.

Online money games are played by depositing money in expectation of winning monetary and other rewards. The bill proposes that any person offering an online money gaming service in violation of the stipulated provisions will face imprisonment of up to three years or a fine that may extend to Rs 1 crore or both.

The provisions also stipulate imprisonment of up to two years and or a fine of up to Rs 50 lakh, or both, for those indulging in advertisements in contravention of rules. Several online real money gaming platforms masquerade themselves as a "game of skills" to differentiate themselves from gambling or betting.

The bill ends the scope of online money gaming players from skirting the ban in the pretext of being a skill-based game platform.