The Union Cabinet has approved a bill related to the promotion and regulation of online gaming, with the government likely to bar platforms offering any online money gaming service, a source said on Tuesday. The bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
“The Cabinet has approved the bill to regulate online gaming platforms that involve real money. The government is trying to table the bill in Parliament on Wednesday,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Bill Targets Money Gaming and Mental Health Concerns
The bill takes into account mental health issues reported among users of online games, particularly those involving monetary incentives. According to sources, the government has observed that online money gaming provides avenues for money laundering, fraudulent transactions, and cyber crime.
Currently, states and Union Territories hold responsibility for preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting crimes, including action on illegal betting and gambling. However, several real money gaming firms have been accused of presenting themselves as “games of skill” to differentiate from betting or gambling platforms and avoid bans.
Previous Legal Challenges and Government Measures
In June, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition by real money gaming platforms including Play Games 24X7, Head Digital Works and Junglee Games, which challenged Tamil Nadu’s ban on money gaming. The court ruled that the state has full competence to pass laws affecting public health and rejected the firms’ arguments to differentiate “games of chance” from “games of skill.”
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The Tamil Nadu government, citing an expert committee report, had said that online money games posed serious mental and physical health risks, including instances of suicides. The court also rejected the platforms’ reliance on the IT Rules 2021, noting that the framework was not yet in effect.
The Centre has been taking measures to block betting and gambling platforms, issuing 1,524 orders from 2022 till June 2025. Under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the IGST Act, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence Headquarters is empowered to block unregistered money gaming platforms, including offshore entities. Online money gaming suppliers are also regulated under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
