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Hundreds of perceived gambling apps were shut down after the Lok Sabha passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, minutes after it was introduced in the House. This led to Team India’s primary shirt sponsor, Dream11, withdrawing on the verge of the Asia Cup, but, more tragically, it is said to have compelled several individuals who’d put large sums of money into the apps to take drastic steps. The prohibition is all-encompassing, with the primary objection being social harm and national security concerns. It has also been suggested that these apps were being used as fronts for money laundering. YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, better known as Flying Beast online, said in his latest video that he gets thousands of mails daily from people who’ve sank all their money into such apps and need financial help.
He said that even the Mahabharata categorises gambling as a sin, next to murder and consuming alcohol. “Will this surgical strike solve this problem, or will it lead to the emergence of a new black market?” he asked, proceeding to cite ‘insider’ information about how this industry operates. Quoting a person who worked at one such company, said that the numbers that are declared publicly are a fraction of the real numbers. He also said that several users reach out daily with pleas, saying that they have been ruined because of their gambling addiction. “We would offer counselling to these people, and the first thing we would do is to close their account so that they don’t continue putting money in,” the insider said in the video. “No refunds are offered.”
The insider revealed that individuals have lost as much as Rs 1 crore in a single day, and that companies also plant their own people with fake money to bluff others into using their real money to place bets. Gaurav cited research papers and studies and said that it is mainly males and adolescents who fall prey to online gambling, and those from lower income households looking to make a quick buck. He said that gambling has been classified to be as addictive as smoking and drinking. Sharing his two cents on why tobacco and alcohol aren’t being treated in the same way as gambling by the government, he said that nobody is being tricked into smoking or drinking, whereas online gaming apps are tricking users into gambling their money.
He also said that gambling has ‘no friction’, unlike alcohol and smoking, which requires the user to take measures to procure products and services. He said that neither the tobacco or alcohol industries are controlling a user’s data and tracking their behaviours, which online gaming apps are. “These apps use algorithms and psychological tactics like push notifications to keep you playing more and more,” he said, adding that studies have shown gambling to be a mental health disorder. “But just like you can’t stop the stock markets, you can’t stop gambling… The rule is that the house always wins,” he said. Gaurav said that deterrents have never actually stopped crimes from happening, which is to say that banning these apps won’t put an end to gambling, but that doesn’t mean laws shouldn’t be enforced. “Drugs are banned in our country, but does that mean drugs aren’t sold on the black market?” he asked rhetorically.
Gaurav said that while the ban won’t act as a complete deterrent, it might ‘save’ the impressionable adolescents who can’t access payment gateways by themselves. “In the end, I’d like to say that a legal grey zone is worse than a clear restriction,” he said, adding, “Celebrities and influencers have endorsed these apps and made things worse. They don’t care about society… You’ll never see rich people use these apps.” Gaurav said that banning apps could be a loss-making proposition for the government, as those in charge will now have to create actuals jobs for the unemployed youth. “What is more important, a balance sheet or life?” he said.
The online gaming industry in India is projected to be worth $9 billion by 2029. As per the industry, it pays over Rs 20,000 crore annually in direct and indirect taxes, and has attracted thousands of crores in foreign investment. In the wake of the bill being passed “(representatives of) Dream11 visited the BCCI office and informed CEO Hemang Amin that they won’t be able to continue… As a result, they won’t be the team’s sponsors for the Asia Cup,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express. The Bill seeks “to prohibit the offering, operation, facilitation, advertisement, promotion and participation in online money games.”
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