India’s Parliament has passed a bill banning online games played with money, which now only requires the nation’s President to sign into law.
According to Reuters, the signing by the top official is considered a formality, and no date has been set yet for this to take place.
Earlier in the week, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 was passed by the lower house, despite industry opposition.
Gaming groups in the country are now in talks to lobby the Supreme Court for a possible reversal on the ban, citing the success of the industry, the lack of consultation and the inclusion of skill-based games – which critics argue should be exempted, notes the publication.
It’s not currently clear how successful the attempts to block the new legislation may be.
Under the new legislation, online money games are defined as being played by a user by depositing money in expectation of winning monetary and other enrichment.
The bill aims to prohibit online money gaming services, advertisements and financial transactions deemed psychologically ‘harmful’.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the federal IT minister heading the department that crafted the bill, noted “It is the duty of the government and the parliament to take strict action against social evils, which keep erupting time and again”.
Industry voices in opposition
According to some estimates, the online money games industry (or real money games – RMG) was expected to be worth up to $3.6 billion by 2029.
Under the new legislation, penalties of up to three years in jail and fines for non-compliance can be levied.
In a statement to AGB prior to the bill’s passage of the upper house, online skill-based trading platform Probo noted that it welcomed the government’s push for regulation but warned that a total ban could choke the sector.
‘A blanket ban on all real-money games could unintentionally limit the sector’s potential and stifle innovation’. The group proposed differentiated rules that could help protect users, generate sustainable tax revenues, create jobs, and prevent users from migrating to unregulated markets.
Differentiated products
The Indian legal system makes a clear distinction between games of skill and games of chance. According to the Supreme Court of India, any game that requires knowledge, logic, and expertise is legal and is not gambling.
Probo describes itself as an online skill-based platform where you’re rewarded for answering binary questions on events and taking positions on issues such as cricket, news, or politics, and being skill-based is compliant with Indian laws and can operate freely across most states.
Central to its appeal is the recognition of opinion trading — also known globally as prediction markets. Probo argued that the format should be explicitly acknowledged in law as a skill-based activity distinct from gaming.
‘In India, opinion trading has been characterized as a game. However, in the United States of America, it has been regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market — or in layman’s terms, a financial market for information exchange and trading,’ Anurag Dhandhi, Business Head at Probo, said in the statement.
‘At its very core, opinion trading (prediction markets) is a tool for economic insight, information aggregation, and forecasting that enables users to apply judgment, knowledge and analysis to real-world developments. By fostering informed and responsible participation, it goes beyond entertainment,’ he added.
Dhandhi said the sector, though nascent, is already thriving worldwide and contributing to ‘financial literacy, data-driven decision-making and strengthening the larger digital economy.’
He urged Indian regulators to seize the opportunity: ‘While we applaud the government’s intent to introduce a progressive framework, we urge the government to build on this vision by explicitly recognizing opinion trading as a permissible skill-based activity and by adopting a differentiated regulatory approach instead of a blanket prohibition.’
The company also highlighted the broader socioeconomic value of prediction markets — from promoting digital inclusion and employment to combating misinformation and democratizing access to trading and innovation.
‘As India shapes the future of its online gaming industry, we are committed to collaborating with regulators to establish opinion trading as a recognized, skill-based format. This clarity is paramount to safeguarding users, fostering responsible innovation, and unlocking substantial economic value — ultimately positioning India as a pioneer of a transformative, regulated technology sector on the global stage,’ Dhandhi said.
