The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 · 32 of 2025

REGISTERED NO. DL—(N)04/0007/2003—25

भारत का राजपत्र

The Gazette of India

सी.जी.-डी.एल.-अ.-22082025-265635 CG-DL-E-22082025-265635

असाधारण EXTRAORDINARY

भाग II — खण्ड 1 PART II — Section 1

प्राधिकार से प्रकाशित PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

सं॰ 37] नई दिल्ली, शुक्रवार, अगस्त 22, 2025/श्रावण 30, 1947 (शक) No. 37] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2025/SHRAVANA 30, 1947 (Saka)

इस भाग में भिन्न पृष्ठ संख्या दी जाती है जिससे कि यह अलग संकलन के रूप में रखा जा सके। Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.

MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE (Legislative Department)

New Delhi, the 22nd August, 2025/Shravana 30, 1947 (Saka)

The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 22nd August, 2025 and is hereby published for general information:—

THE PROMOTION AND REGULATION OF ONLINE GAMING ACT, 2025

No. 32 OF 2025

[22nd August, 2025.]

An Act to promote and regulate the online gaming sector including e-sports, educational games and social gaming; to provide for the appointment of an Authority for coordinated policy support, strategic development and regulatory oversight of the sector; to prohibit the offering, operation, facilitation, advertisement, ptomotion and participation in online money games through any computer resource, mobile device or the internet, particularly where such activities operate across State borders or from foreign jurisdictions; to protect individuals, especially youth and vulnerable populations, from the adverse social, economic, psychological and privacy-related impacts of such games; to ensure the responsible use of digital technologies; to maintain public order and protect public health; to safeguard the integrity of financial systems and the security and sovereignty of the State; to establish a uniform national-level legal framework in the public interest; and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

WHEREAS the online gaming sector has rapidly evolved into one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing segments of the digital and creative economy, offering significant opportunities for innovation, cognitive development, employment generation, technological advancement and global competitiveness;

AND WHEREAS India possesses a large and growing pool of young professionals with technological capabilities and rapidly expanding domestic market, which together enable the country to assume a leadership role in the global online gaming value chain;

AND WHEREAS the online gaming ecosystem comprises diverse segments, including e-sports, casual and social games, educational games and online money games, and is currently operating in the absence of a dedicated institutional and legal framework necessary for strategic coordination, capacity building, common infrastructure, research and responsible innovation;

AND WHEREAS the lack of a coherent and enabling legal framework has hindered the sector’s structured development and the promotion of responsible gaming practices, requiring urgent policy intervention and support mechanisms;

AND WHEREAS the parallel proliferation of online money games accessible through mobile phones, computers and the internet, and offering monetary returns against user deposits has led to serious social, financial, psychological and public health harms, particularly among young individuals and economically disadvantaged groups;

AND WHEREAS such games often use manipulative design features, addictive algorithms, bots and undisclosed agents, undermining fairness, transparency and user protection, while promoting compulsive behaviour leading to financial ruin;

AND WHEREAS platforms offering online gaming system are often aggressively marketed through pervasive advertising campaigns, including celebrity and influencer endorsements, thereby amplifying their reach and impact especially among the youth and vulnerable groups;

AND WHEREAS the unchecked expansion of online money gaming services has been linked to unlawful activities including financial fraud, money-laundering, tax evasion, and in some cases, the financing of terrorism, thereby posing threats to national security, public order and the integrity of the State;

AND WHEREAS considering the deleterious and negative impact of online money games on the individuals, families, society and the nation and given the technical aspects including the very nature of the electronic medium used for online money games, the algorithms applied and the national and transnational networks involved therein;

AND WHEREAS many such services operate from offshore jurisdictions, bypassing domestic laws, undermining state-level regulations, and presenting significant enforcement challenges in terms of extra-territorial jurisdiction and inter-State inconsistencies;

AND WHEREAS it is expedient in the public interest for the Union Government to assume legislative competence over the online gaming sector to ensure the creation of a secure, structured and innovation-friendly digital environment, while addressing the associated risks to public health, consumer safety, public morality and financial sovereignty;

AND WHEREAS it is necessary to clearly delineate and categorise the various forms of online games and to provide a tailored legal framework to govern each sub-sector of the industry appropriately.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows:––

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

Short title, extent and commencement.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.

(2) It extends to the whole of India and also applies to online money gaming service offered within the territory of India or operated from outside the territory of India.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Definitions.

2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,––

35 of 2019.

• (a) “advertisement” shall have the meaning as assigned to it in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019;
• (b) “Authority” means an Authority constituted under section 8;
• (c) “e-sport” means an online game which––
  • (i) is played as part of multi-sports events;
  • (ii) involves organised competitive events between individuals or teams, conducted in multiplayer formats governed by predefined rules; 25 of 2025.
  • (iii) is duly recognised under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and registered with the Authority or agency under section 3;
  • (iv) has outcome determined solely by factors such as physical dexterity, mental agility, strategic thinking or other similar skills of users as players;
  • (v) may include payment of registration or participation fees solely for the purpose of entering the competition or covering administrative costs and may include performance-based prize money by the player; and
  • (vi) shall not involve the placing of bets, wagers or any other stakes by any person, whether or not such person is a participant, including any winning out of such bets, wagers or any other stakes;
• (d) “internet” means the combination of computer facilities and electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and software, comprising the interconnected worldwide network of computer networks that transmits information based on a protocol for controlling such transmission;
• (e) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the term “notify” shall be construed accordingly;
• (f) “online game” means any game, which is played on an electronic or a digital device and is managed and operated as a software through the internet or any other kind of technology facilitating electronic communication;
• (g) “online money game” means an online game, irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance, or both, played by a user by paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning which entails monetary and other enrichment in return of money or other stakes; but shall not include any e-sports;
• (h) “online money gaming service” means a service offered by a person for entering or playing the online money game;
• (i) “online social game” means an online game which—
  • (i) does not involve staking of money or other stakes or participation with the expectation of winning by way of monetary gain in return of money or other stakes;
  • (ii) may allow access through payment of a subscription fee or one-time access fee, provided that such payment is not in the nature of a stake or wager;
  • (iii) is offered solely for entertainment, recreation or skill-development purposes; and
  • (iv) is not an online money game or e-sport;
• (j) “other stakes” means anything recognised as equivalent or convertible to money and includes credits, coins, token or objects or any other similar thing, by whatever name called and whether it is real or virtual, which is purchased by paying money directly or by indirect means or as part of, or in relation to, an online game;
• (k) “person” includes—
  • (i) an individual;
  • (ii) a Hindu undivided family;
  • (iii) a company;
  • (iv) a firm;
  • (v) an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not;
  • (vi) the State; and
  • (vii) every artificial juristic person, not falling within any of the preceding sub-clauses;
• (l) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
• (m) “user” means any person who accesses or avails online game.