Govt kills real-money gaming with Gaming Bill in Lok Sabha

The Centre on Wednesday passed the Bill on the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, proposing a blanket ban on real-money games (RMG) in India. Piloted by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the draft law outlaws all online games involving monetary stakes or financial returns, covering fantasy sports, rummy, poker, opinion trading, among others.

The Bill shuts the door on the long-running “skill versus chance” debate by treating all money games as illegal. It also extends to offshore platforms accessible in India, giving the government…