India Drafts Rules for Online Gaming Authority
- 03 Oct 2025
On 2nd October 2025, draft rules were released to operationalize the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, 2025, which bans real money gaming (RMG) platforms such as online poker, rummy, and fantasy sports while permitting only social games and e-sports.
Key Points
- Establishment of Online Gaming Authority: The authority is likely to be a corporate body headquartered in Delhi-NCR with permanent existence and a common seal, empowered to acquire and sell property, enter into contracts, and sue or be sued in its own name.
- Digital Operations: The authority can function digitally, summoning and examining individuals under oath through technology without requiring physical presence.
- Composition: Its members will include officials from the Ministry of IT, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Ministry of Youth Affairs, financial authorities, and legal experts.
- Registration and Certification: The authority will oversee the registration and certification of social games and e-sports, maintain a national registry of approved games, and determine whether a game is lawful or betting-based. Registration is mandatory, valid for up to five years, and required for advertising or operating platforms.
- Grievance Redressal System: Users can escalate unresolved complaints first to an appellate committee and then to the authority, which must resolve cases within 30 days.
- Prohibition of Betting-Based Games: Betting-based online games involving cash stakes, wagering, or cash-convertible prizes are prohibited, with violations treated as serious non-bailable offences, holding all company employees accountable.
- Penalties: Offering online money gaming can attract up to three years’ imprisonment and fines up to Rs 1 crore, while advertising such platforms may result in two years’ imprisonment and fines up to Rs 50 lakh.
