Branded as a social evil, banned gaming companies stare at a tough road ahead
For one evening, at least, bitter rivals were bound by something greater than market share or policy battles: survival.
The companies have sought meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah, however, have not yet been successful in that. There is widespread belief in the industry that even though the Bill was introduced by the IT Ministry, the Home Ministry has played a crucial role in its formulation. (Image: Unsplash) On the evening when the online gaming Bill received the Cabinet’s nod, an unusual gathering happened in Delhi. Employees, consultants and lobbyists from rival gaming companies — many of whom had spent years undercutting each other’s arguments in the corridors of power — found themselves in the same room. Old adversaries frantically compared notes and scoured the Bill’s language, searching for cracks in the definition of what exactly was being prohibited. Could there be an exemption, a loophole, a shred of ambiguity that might yet keep a corner of the industry alive?
For one evening, at least, bitter rivals were bound by something greater than market share or policy battles: survival.
With The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, now having been notified, it’s official that all kinds of real money gaming platforms — Dream11, Winzo, MPL, My11Circle and the likes — are illegal in the country and can not offer games where users can wager money. “People are sad, they are crestfallen,” a lawyer working with some online gaming companies said.
The companies have sought meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah, however, have not yet been successful in that. There is widespread belief in the industry that even though the bill was introduced by the IT Ministry, the Home Ministry has played a crucial role in its formulation. On Thursday evening, some companies are learnt to have met senior officials in the IT Ministry, where they were asked to comply with the law at the earliest.
Companies such as Dream11, Winzo, MPL, My11Circle, and Probo have stopped their real money gaming operations, bringing the curtains down on what was one of startup India’s most successful sectors, financially, with three startups having a valuation of over $1 billion. Some are already pivoting to new revenue streams. Dream11, for instance, is launching a new gold loan app under a new service called Dream Money.
Dream11, the country’s biggest fantasy sports app and the Indian cricket team’s main jersey sponsor, which had also recently shifted its domicile from the US to India, posted a revenue of Rs 6,384 crore in FY23, according to its financial disclosures and had a profit of Rs 188 crore. Winzo reported an operating revenue of Rs 1,055 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2024, and a profit of Rs 315 crore. Games24x7 had a revenue of
Rs 1,988 crore in FY23, but posted a loss of Rs 199 crore. For all of them, revenue from online gaming was the biggest chunk of their earnings, as high as 90-95 per cent.
For long, the online gaming company operated in a legal grey zone, with both the Centre and several state governments trying to regulate the sector, with calls for a national level law. And for an industry which focused extensively on policy engagement with the government through various lobby channels, the news of an outright blanket ban came as a big surprise, as work on the Bill happened without their knowledge or inputs.
Historically, the sector had succeeded in favourable judgements at the Supreme Court, where formats like fantasy sports and rummy were categorised as games of skill. However, the Bill applies to all online money gaming platforms irrespective of whether they are games of skill or chance, a distinction the industry had lobbied hard for in the past.
That there will be a legal challenge against the law is clear. Companies and their associations have been on constant calls since they have learnt of the bill to prepare a legal roadmap, with multiple considerations. One of those is for the industry to pool money for one company which will raise the challenge in court, this paper has learnt.
However, even if the companies manage to get a favourable judgement from the court, the road ahead looks murky. A senior executive said that if the case drags on for anything more than six months, a victory would amount to very little as the financial hit in that time would be too much to bear. And because the government has clearly branded real money gaming as some sort of a social evil, the industry fears that they would anyway be burdened with significant tax obligations, which would also make their offerings lukewarm to users.
The fact that these companies have been banned as they are being essentially seen as a threat to public health and India’s “social ethos” is something that many in the industry are finding hard to swallow. “There was no consultation done with us, we had no idea that the government was planning such a drastic action. There are problems in the sector, but we were implementing safeguards constantly. We should have been given a chance to be heard,” a senior policy executive of a gaming company said.
As per the industry, it pays over Rs 20,000 crore annually in direct and indirect taxes. The sector has attracted foreign direct investment of over
Rs 25,000 crore till June 2022, and currently supports over 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs. Many of those could be at risk.
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