Ministry of Information & Broadcasting press release · 18 March 2026 · pibtracker filter

Government Enacts Online Gaming Act 2025, Prohibits All Forms of Online Money Games and Promotes Safe Digital Ecosystem

PRID2241804 MinistryMinistry of Information & Broadcasting Released18 March 2026 Reading10 min

Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 4:14PM by PIB Delhi The Government is committed to ensuring a safe, responsible and accountable online gaming ecosystem in the country. In this context, the Government has enacted the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (“Gaming Act”) with the objective of promoting innovation in e-sports and online social games and prohibiting online money games. The Gaming Act comprehensively prohibits all forms of online money games, whether involving games of chance, games of skill, or any combination thereof. It also prohibits the advertising, promotion, and facilitation of such games, as well as the processing of related financial transactions through banks or payment systems. The Act further empowers authorities to block access to unlawful platforms under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Gaming Act also prescribes stringent penalties for violations. Offering online money games or facilitating financial transactions for such online money games may attract imprisonment of up to three years or a fine up to one crore rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for offering or facilitating online money games may attract a minimum of 3 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 5 years and a fine of minimum one crore rupees which may extend up to two crore rupees. Advertising such online money games is punishable with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine up to fifty lakh rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for advertising such online money games may attract a minimum of 2 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 3 years and a fine of minimum fifty lakh rupees which may extend up to one crore rupees. In addition to the above, the Gaming Act also provides for the recognition and promotion of e-sports and online social games, the establishment of the Online Gaming Authority of India, a transparent registration mechanism for online games, a grievance-redressal system for users, and safeguards against prohibited online money games and associated harms. The national-level Online Gaming Authority will be responsible for classifying and registering permissible games, determining whether a game constitutes a money game, issuing codes of practice, and addressing public grievances. By empowering a central regulatory authority, the Act aims to provide coordinated policy support, effective oversight, and to position India as a global leader in the online gaming domain, while ensuring that technological growth aligns with the national interest and the principles of consumer protection. The information was submitted today in the Lok Sabha in a written reply to Shri Rao Rajendra Singh by Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs. ****** Mahesh Kumar/Aparajita Priyadarshini (Release ID: 2241804) Visitor Counter : 4859 Read this release in: Urdu , हिन्दी , Assamese , Bengali , Punjabi , Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government Enacts Online Gaming Act 2025, Prohibits All Forms of Online Money Games and Promotes Safe Digital Ecosystem Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 4:14PM by PIB Delhi The Government is committed to ensuring a safe, responsible and accountable online gaming ecosystem in the country. In this context, the Government has enacted the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (“Gaming Act”) with the objective of promoting innovation in e-sports and online social games and prohibiting online money games. The Gaming Act comprehensively prohibits all forms of online money games, whether involving games of chance, games of skill, or any combination thereof. It also prohibits the advertising, promotion, and facilitation of such games, as well as the processing of related financial transactions through banks or payment systems. The Act further empowers authorities to block access to unlawful platforms under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Gaming Act also prescribes stringent penalties for violations. Offering online money games or facilitating financial transactions for such online money games may attract imprisonment of up to three years or a fine up to one crore rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for offering or facilitating online money games may attract a minimum of 3 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 5 years and a fine of minimum one crore rupees which may extend up to two crore rupees. Advertising such online money games is punishable with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine up to fifty lakh rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for advertising such online money games may attract a minimum of 2 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 3 years and a fine of minimum fifty lakh rupees which may extend up to one crore rupees. In addition to the above, the Gaming Act also provides for the recognition and promotion of e-sports and online social games, the establishment of the Online Gaming Authority of India, a transparent registration mechanism for online games, a grievance-redressal system for users, and safeguards against prohibited online money games and associated harms. The national-level Online Gaming Authority will be responsible for classifying and registering permissible games, determining whether a game constitutes a money game, issuing codes of practice, and addressing public grievances. By empowering a central regulatory authority, the Act aims to provide coordinated policy support, effective oversight, and to position India as a global leader in the online gaming domain, while ensuring that technological growth aligns with the national interest and the principles of consumer protection. The information was submitted today in the Lok Sabha in a written reply to Shri Rao Rajendra Singh by Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs. ****** Mahesh Kumar/Aparajita Priyadarshini (Release ID: 2241804) The Government is committed to ensuring a safe, responsible and accountable online gaming ecosystem in the country. In this context, the Government has enacted the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (“Gaming Act”) with the objective of promoting innovation in e-sports and online social games and prohibiting online money games. The Gaming Act comprehensively prohibits all forms of online money games, whether involving games of chance, games of skill, or any combination thereof. It also prohibits the advertising, promotion, and facilitation of such games, as well as the processing of related financial transactions through banks or payment systems. The Act further empowers authorities to block access to unlawful platforms under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Gaming Act also prescribes stringent penalties for violations. Offering online money games or facilitating financial transactions for such online money games may attract imprisonment of up to three years or a fine up to one crore rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for offering or facilitating online money games may attract a minimum of 3 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 5 years and a fine of minimum one crore rupees which may extend up to two crore rupees. Advertising such online money games is punishable with imprisonment of up to two years or a fine up to fifty lakh rupees or both. Second/Subsequent conviction for advertising such online money games may attract a minimum of 2 years of imprisonment which may extend up to 3 years and a fine of minimum fifty lakh rupees which may extend up to one crore rupees. In addition to the above, the Gaming Act also provides for the recognition and promotion of e-sports and online social games, the establishment of the Online Gaming Authority of India, a transparent registration mechanism for online games, a grievance-redressal system for users, and safeguards against prohibited online money games and associated harms. The national-level Online Gaming Authority will be responsible for classifying and registering permissible games, determining whether a game constitutes a money game, issuing codes of practice, and addressing public grievances. By empowering a central regulatory authority, the Act aims to provide coordinated policy support, effective oversight, and to position India as a global leader in the online gaming domain, while ensuring that technological growth aligns with the national interest and the principles of consumer protection. The information was submitted today in the Lok Sabha in a written reply to Shri Rao Rajendra Singh by Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs. ****** Mahesh Kumar/Aparajita Priyadarshini " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); // } //} var synth = window.speechSynthesis; function CleanHtml(html) { html = html.replace(/ /gi, ''); return html; } function stripHtml(html) { let tmp = document.createElement("DIV"); tmp.innerHTML = CleanHtml(html); return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || ""; 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top:82%; right: 20px; width: 230px; height: 70px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 18px, #6e2b8b 18px, #6e2b8b 36px ); border-top: 8px solid #9a2375; border-bottom: 8px solid #9a2375; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); animation: moveFilm 8s linear infinite; z-index: 10; } /* film sprocket holes */ .film-roll-badge::before, .film-roll-badge::after { content: ""; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 10px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 10px, #fff 10px, #fff 20px ); left: 0; z-index: 2; } .film-roll-badge::before { top: -4px; } .film-roll-badge::after { bottom: -4px; } .film-roll-inner { position: relative; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; animation: flicker 2s infinite ease-in-out; } .countdown-text { font-size: 1.3rem; font-weight: 700; color: #fff; text-shadow: 0 0 6px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4), 0 0 10px #000; white-space: nowrap; } /* === Animations === */ @keyframes moveFilm { 0% { background-position: 0 0; } 100% { background-position: 120px 0; } } @keyframes flicker { 0%, 100% { opacity: 1; } 50% { opacity: 0.9; } 25% { opacity: 0.95; } 75% { opacity: 0.85; } } /* === Responsive Adjustments === */ @media (max-width: 1500px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 68%; right: 18px; /* width: 220px; */ height: 65px; font-size: 0.85rem; } .press-section { margin-top: 35px; } } @media (max-width: 992px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 52%; right: 10px; width: 200px; height: 60px; } } @media (max-width: 768px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 56%; right: 10px; width: 124px; height: 55px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.9rem; } } @media (max-width: 576px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 59%; right: 5px; /* width: 160px; */ height: 50px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.85rem; } } const festivalStart = new Date("2025-11-20T00:00:00").getTime(); const festivalEnd = new Date("2025-11-28T23:59:59").getTime(); const countdownElement = document.getElementById("countdown"); 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Government Enacts Online Gaming Act 2025, Prohibits All Forms of Online Money Games and Promotes Safe Digital Ecosystem

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