New Delhi, August 21: Union Minister for Railways, Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Thursday said that the Online Gaming Bill, 2025, is aimed at protecting society while simultaneously promoting e-sports and supporting online social game creators as engines of innovation under the vision of Digital Bharat.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, recently passed by Parliament, takes a balanced approach—encouraging innovation in safe and skill-based online games while prohibiting harmful practices that threaten the middle class and youth.
Highlighting the three categories of online games, Vaishnaw said e-sports (training-based, team-oriented games) and online social games (educational, community-based, casual games like Angry Birds or card games) are recognised and encouraged by the Bill. In contrast, online money games—which involve financial stakes and have been linked to addiction, fraud, debt, money laundering, and even suicides—have been prohibited.
“Just like cricket or football, e-sports require strategy, reflexes, and teamwork. The Bill gives legal recognition to e-sports, and the government will launch schemes and programmes to promote them,” Vaishnaw said in a series of posts on X. He added that online social games provide a safe way to interact and learn, and their creators will receive government support as part of India’s growing creator economy and software sector.
On the other hand, he stressed the devastating effects of online money games: “Youth and children addicted, families ruined, massive frauds, credit card debt, even suicides. Crores of families have been destroyed, middle-class savings wiped out. There are thousands of complaints from across the country.”
The minister further pointed out that misleading advertisements by celebrities had given such platforms false legitimacy, while serious concerns about money laundering and terror financing remain.
“When it comes to choosing between society’s welfare and government revenue, PM Narendra Modi has always chosen the safety of middle-class families,” Vaishnaw emphasised.
The Bill also proposes the creation of a central authority to oversee policy coordination, strategic development, and regulatory enforcement in the online gaming sector.
