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Biman Mukherji

Across India, on any given evening, glowing phone screens flash with gaming apps promising instant riches.
But those promises have for too many ended in debt, despair and even suicide, propelling the government to outlaw real-money gaming apps in a bid to stem a crisis officials describe as “spreading like drugs in society”.
On August 20, India’s parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that bans real-money gaming online. Hosting or enabling such services now carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and fines of up to 10 million rupees (US$114,000).
Users themselves will not be treated as criminals, but the enterprises behind the platforms – and the financial intermediaries that facilitate betting – will.
People are losing money, families are breaking
India’s Electronics and IT Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw
Officials say the decision reflects the scale of the damage.
“People are losing money, families are breaking, so many people are committing suicide,” Ashwani Vaishnaw, India’s electronics and information technology minister told Business Today. “And the way it is spreading, close to around 450 million people are affected by it.”
He said the government had been trying to introduce “softer regulations” for years, “but the problem could not be solved”.
Online money games, Vaishnaw added, had “almost spread like drugs in society … that is why it was very important to take very strict action”.
A government statement described the new law as a safeguard against “predatory gaming platforms that thrive on misleading promises of quick wealth”, noting that the World Health Organization had already recognised “gaming disorder” as a genuine condition.

Industry backlash
The move has triggered alarm across India’s US$3.7 billion online gaming sector. Giants such as Dream11 – sponsor of the national cricket team – are expected to be hit hard alongside hundreds of smaller companies.
Industry federations, including the All India Gaming Federation, the E-Gaming Federation and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, have warned that a blanket ban could wipe out thousands of jobs and stall a market once forecast to double in size by 2029.
Some legal experts argue that a licensing regime, with mandatory spending caps and strict compliance checks, might have been more effective than prohibition.
“While a blanket ban may discourage casual users and potentially reduce channels for money laundering, experience shows such prohibitions often drive activity to unregulated or offshore platforms, making enforcement harder,” said Siddharth Mahajan, a partner at Athena Legal in New Delhi.

Others have suggested the government already had sufficient laws to regulate the sector, but enforcement never kept pace with its rapid growth.
“Banning real money gambling is really an indication that the industry grew too fast, too quickly for Indian regulatory authorities to adequately enforce existing laws,” said Russell A. Stamets, a partner at the Delhi-based law firm Circle of Counsels.
India’s judiciary has previously drawn a distinction between games of chance, which constitute gambling, and games of skill, which enjoy constitutional protections. The scope of those definitions can be quite wide.
“Historically, the Indian judiciary has drawn a clear distinction,” said Vaibhav Kakkar, a senior partner at the law firm Saraf and Partners. “Games like rummy and horse racing, which involve substantial skill, do not constitute gambling – even when played for money.”

There are also constitutional questions to answer. Lawyers have argued that betting and gambling fall under the jurisdiction of state legislatures according to India’s constitution, raising concerns about federal overreach. While states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have supported the new law, legal experts say challenges are inevitable.
On Friday, Reuters reported that gaming company A23, which offers rummy and poker games, had filed a challenge at the High Court of Karnataka saying the new law “criminalises the legitimate business of playing online games of skill”.
Snigdhaneel Satpathy, a partner at the law firm Saraf and Partners, said that “the prohibition may lead to an immediate reduction of any potential money laundering” but its enforcement “will be challenging, especially against offshore platforms”.
The key to tackling such challenges would be international cooperation and the use of digital forensics, he added.
‘The choice is clear’
Vaishnaw, the cabinet minister, said the government had little alternative. For more than three years, regulators tried softer measures, but the crisis deepened.
“The choice is between saving the middle class, the young people vs the revenue,” he said. “And the choice is very clear, we have to save the middle class.”
The new law exempts non-monetary esports such as chess or sudoku, which officials describe as beneficial. India’s government already actively blocks offshore servers found to be hosting online betting sites.
Parliament’s approval of the ban looks to have set the law on a collision course with the courts, states and India’s own booming tech industry.
In the meantime, whether it brings relief to the families affected or drives gambling further underground remains to be seen.
But in a nation where smartphones have become ubiquitous and online gaming has blurred the line between entertainment and addiction, India’s gamble on prohibition may prove to be one of its most consequential regulatory experiments yet.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, you can dial 18111 for the government-run Mental Health Support Hotline. You can also call +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


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India bans ‘drug-like’ real-money online gaming to stem crisis: ‘families are breaking’

A bookmaker counts money at an archery club in Shillong, India, where men gamble on a game known simply as “shoot arrow”. Photo: AFP

A man uses his mobile phone at a market in Bengaluru, India, last month. Photo: Reuters

A user checks the app for Dream11, an Indian fantasy sports platform, on his mobile phone in New Delhi. Photo: AFP

A bookmaker counts money at an archery club in Shillong, India, where men place bets and gamble on a game known simply as “siat khnam”, or “shoot arrow”. Photo: AFP

Card games like rummy have historically not been classified as gambling in India, even if played for money. Photo: Shutterstock

Inside the Philippines’ online gambling epidemic: ‘it’s worse than Pogos’

A game of roulette being played on a smartphone. The Philippines raked in gross gaming revenue of US$7 billion last year. Photo: Getty Images

A social media post by polling firm WR Numero, which recently found that nearly one-third of Filipinos had either gambled online or expressed their desire to try. Photo: X/@WR_Numero

The anonymity and convenience of online gambling have become a major allure for players. Photo: Shutterstock

Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill banning the connection of e-wallets to online gambling platforms. Photo: AP

Members huddle at a fellowship of the Recovering Gamblers of the Philippines, an anonymous support group for gambling addicts. Photo: Reagan Praferosa

Is Indonesia ready to roll the dice on casinos at the risk of social costs?

A lawmaker in Indonesia has proposed that casinos be legalised in the country. Photo: Shutterstock

A blackjack table inside the Resorts World Sentosa casino in Singapore. A group of entrepreneurs in Bali has proposed building a casino on the island. Photo: Reuters

The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Gambling is illegal in the Muslim-majority country. Photo: EPA-EFE

Indonesia’s government is seeking to eradicate online gambling amid a rise in related crimes. Photo: Shutterstock

Forget Macau’s junket launderers, dirty Chinese cash has a new home: Southeast Asia’s casino scam hubs

Dirty Chinese money is exiting Macau for money launderers’ new bases of operations in the shady casino-scam hubs of Southeast Asia. Photo: Huy Truong

Chinese gambling and scam suspects are pictured being escorted by police on a chartered flight to China from Cambodia on April 13. Photo: Xinhua

Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia, with its low taxes and easily obtained casino licences, became a hub for illegal online betting and cyberscams. Photo: Shutterstock

Singapore, which holds the presidency of the main international money laundering watchdog, has made depriving criminals of their ill-gotten gains a priority. Photo: Shutterstock

Cash seized by Singapore police in August last year during anti-money-laundering raids that led to the arrests of 10 China-born suspects. Photo: Singapore Police Force/via EPA-EFE

Singapore’s Marina Bay financial district. The city state has stepped up its anti-money-laundering activity in recent months. Photo: Bloomberg

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India’s online gaming industry is reeling from a ban meant to curb addiction and suicides. Critics warn it could drive gambling underground


India’s online gaming industry is reeling from a ban meant to curb addiction and suicides. Critics warn it could drive gambling underground.
