India’s parliament has passed a sweeping bill banning online gambling, after government figures showed companies had stripped $2.3bn annually from 450 million people.
The ban affects platforms for card games, poker and fantasy sports, including India’s wildly popular homegrown fantasy cricket apps.
It also leaves the fate of the key sponsor for India’s national cricket team in question.
Dream11, India’s biggest fantasy sports gaming platform, was named on July 2023 as the country’s lead sponsor for three years, with its logo splashed on Team India jerseys.
No announcement has been made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding that key sponsor.
“If it’s not permissible, we’ll not do anything,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said Friday. “The BCCI will follow every policy of the country that is framed by the central government.”
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill was passed by both houses of parliament late on Thursday, and criminalises the offering, promotion and financing of such games, with offenders facing up to five years in prison.
Dream 11, in a statement posted on its website on Friday, noted that, following the passing of the bill, “cash games and contests have been discontinued”, but urged fans to “stay tuned”.
Other games remained online on Friday, with the bill still needing to be formally ratified by the president before taking effect.
“This legislation is designed to curb addiction, financial ruin and social distress caused by predatory gaming platforms that thrive on misleading promises of quick wealth,” a government statement said.
India’s wider gaming industry is one of the largest markets in the world, but the new law carves out exceptions for e-sports and educational games, which the government says will be promoted as part of the digital economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the new law will “encourage e-sports and online social games” while “at the same time, it will save our society from the harmful effects of online money games”.
The government said roughly a third of the world’s most populous country had lost money gambling online.
Industry groups had urged regulation and taxation rather than a blanket ban, warning the move could drive players to illegal offshore platforms.
But supporters of the bill argued that the social costs are too high to allow.
Officials said the rapid spread of gambling platforms had caused widespread financial distress, addiction and even suicide.
The government said it had also been linked to fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of technology, noted the law differentiates between online “social” games and those played for money.
“It encourages e-sports, which are organised competitive video games, and promotes safe online social and educational games,” a government briefing note read.
“It clearly separates constructive digital recreation from betting, gambling and fantasy money games that exploit users with false promises of profit.”
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