The Indian Parliament has passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, with several real-money gaming operators confirming they will exit the soon-to-be regulated market.
Earlier this week, local media reports stated the Union Cabinet of India had approved the bill which would ban real-money gaming, fantasy sports, poker, rummy and online lotteries.
With the bill tabled in India’s lower house of parliament, Lok Sabha, on Wednesday, 20 August, it was passed yesterday, 21 August, by India’s upper house, the Rajya Sabha.
It will now be sent to India’s President Droupadi Murmu to sign into law, though no specific date has been set for that as yet.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s federal IT minister, said: “It is the duty of the government and the parliament to take strict action against social evils, which keep erupting time and again.”
With the bill banning real-money games, Thursday saw several high-profile operators announce they would pull their offerings from the market.
Dream Sports, a fantasy sports operator with popular games including Dream11, has suspended operations in India.
A statement on its website reads: “Thank you for your interest in Dream11. As per The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, cash games and contests have been discontinued on Dream11. Stay tuned, we’ll be back with more.”
Dream11 is the title sponsor of India’s cricket team while another Dream Sports brand, My11Circle, is the fantasy rights holder for the Indian Premier League.
Speaking on Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told the Times of India: “The BCCI will not do anything which is not permitted by the government or by any law of the country.
“The BCCI will not violate any of the laws enforced in the country. That’s very clear.
“Once the act comes into force, we will look into it, examine it and, if it’s permissible, then we will take sponsorship [from online betting and gaming operators]. If it’s not permissible, we’ll not do anything.”
Indian online gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) also halted it’s real-money-based games following the passing of the bill, with a company statement on LinkedIn confirming it will respect the law and comply with the online money game ban in the country.
It read: “Effective immediately, we are suspending all gaming offerings involving money on the MPL platform in India.
“Our focus was always to be the largest competitive gaming platform in the world irrespective of the business model, and we remain committed to providing competitive, free to play, non-money based gaming experiences to our customers in India.
“We will keep our community informed about next steps as we complete the shutdown process for online money games.”
As per PitchBook data, Dream11 is valued at $8bn (£6bn) while MPL is valued at $2.3bn.
Another Indian real-money game platform Zupee released a similar statement, announcing it had discontinued its real-money games and that no new deposits will be accepted, though users can continue to withdraw their balances.
Zupee’s statement read: “As a proud homegrown company, we believe deeply in the India growth story and reaffirm our long-term commitment to contributing to the nation’s digital economy.
“Our foremost priority has always been our users, and we remain committed to offering them innovative, responsible and joyful gaming experiences.
“We will continue to focus on engaging and culturally rooted free-to-play gaming formats.
“Our free-to-play games – Ludo Supreme, Ludo Turbo, Snakes & Ladders and Trump Card Mania – remain live and accessible to our 150 million users across the country.
“We reaffirm our long-term vision to be at the forefront of innovation in India’s digital ecosystem.”
EGR has reached out to Flutter Entertainment for an update on the future of Junglee Games, the operator’s real-money gaming brand operating in the Indian market.
Once president Murmu signs the bill, India will begin to promote esports and online social games.
Once the bill becomes law, operators found to be offering real-money games will face punishments of up to three years in prison and fines of up to INR10m (£85,111), while advertising platforms could be hit with a two-year prison sentence and fine of INR5m.
The regulation of India’s gaming market comes on the back of addiction fears and aims to protect children from suffering from gambling-related harm.
India has fought against a black market that saw four sites, Parimatch, Stake, 1xBet and Batery Bet, amass 1.6 billion visits in Q4 2024, according to a report published in March by the Gambling and Betting Market report, conducted by the Digital India Foundation.
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Dream Sports, Zupee and Mobile Premier League say they will respect the law, with bill which bans real-money gaming now awaiting the signature of President Droupadi Murmu
The post Operators to stop real-money gaming offerings in India after online gaming bill passes first appeared on EGR Intel.