The Rajya Sabha on Thursday cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill through a voice vote, despite strong protests by opposition leaders in the Upper House.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh announced the passage of the legislation before adjourning proceedings for ten minutes. The bill, piloted by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeks to ban all forms of online money games while promoting eSports and social gaming.
The legislation prohibits advertisements of online money games and bars banks and financial institutions from facilitating or transferring funds for such activities. Online money games, defined as those played by depositing money with the expectation of monetary or other rewards, fall under the proposed ban.
The Lok Sabha had passed the bill a day earlier. With both Houses now clearing it, offering or facilitating online money gaming becomes punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to ₹1 crore.
Minister Highlights Risks of Online Money Games
Speaking during the debate, Vaishnaw said, “People lose their life’s savings in online money gaming.”
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He explained that the government’s purpose behind the bill was to “promote and encourage the good parts,” adding that efforts had been ongoing for more than three years with deep engagement from the industry. The minister also noted plans to make India a hub for game development through the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), where gaming has been identified as a key vertical.
Vaishnaw further highlighted that several platforms had been misused for money laundering, terror financing, and as messaging channels by terrorist organisations.
Popular platforms likely to be affected under the new law include Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Howzat, SG11 Fantasy, WinZO, and PokerBaazi.
