A day after the Lok Sabha passed the Online Gaming Bill 2025, the Rajya Sabha cleared it on Thursday without any discussion. On the last day of the Monsoon Session, the House also adopted a motion moved by Home Minister Amit Shah to refer the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill to a joint committee of Parliament. The Bills, which seek to remove Central and state ministers who face allegations of corruption or serious offences and have been detained for at least 30 days, saw uproarious scenes in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, following which the House referred them to a joint committee. Shah’s motion in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday was also adopted amid a ruckus from Opposition members. With the din continuing, Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw moved a motion for consideration of The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which proposes that any person offering an online money gaming service in violation of the stipulated provisions will face imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. “Online gaming has turned into an important sector in the digital world. There are three segments to it. The Bill promotes e-sports and online social games. This is two-thirds of the online gaming segment. But there is a third segment — online money games. This is becoming a problem in society, particularly among the middle-class youth,” he said. “It becomes an addiction and family savings are lost. Online money gaming has now become a public health risk. It gives rise to psychological disorders, compulsive behaviour, withdrawal symptoms, violent behaviour… This problem is now similar to that of drugs, which is why strict measures need to be taken.” Amid continued sloganeering from the Opposition members, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge requested Deputy Chairman Harivansh to listen to their demands too. “I request you to listen to us. You dismiss our points, we don’t bother. But at least give us a chance to say what we have to. This is wrong.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said: “They (Opposition members) don’t speak on the subject… In this entire Monsoon Session, you all did not cooperate. Time was given for discussion on Bills. Time was set in the Business Advisory Committee. But you don't talk. And then, they are alleging today that they don’t get a chance to speak. This is wrong, I condemn it.” “They (Opposition) are not participating in it (discussion on the Online Gaming Bill). They are disturbing, nobody is able to speak, nobody can hear. We request that the Bill be passed,” Rijiju said. The clauses of the Bill were put to vote amid the din and the Bill was passed. In his valedictory remarks, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said: “Despite the best efforts of the Chair to facilitate meaningful and disruption-free discussion on the listed business, the session was regrettably marred by repeated disruptions leading to frequent adjournments. This not only resulted in loss of precious parliamentary time, but also deprived us the opportunity to deliberate upon several matters of public importance.”
