MeitY Proposes Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 to Regulate Online Gaming Across India
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure | SDG 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
Institutions: Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY)
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), has released a full package of documents - including the draft Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (PROG Act), draft Online Gaming Rules, an Explanatory Note, and a Notice inviting stakeholder comments. Together, they lay out a uniform national framework for governing the fast-growing online gaming sector.
This draft central law proposes to regulate online gaming uniformly across India, replacing fragmented state-level rules. It draws a sharp line between “money games” (restricted) and “social/skill-based games” (encouraged), while creating a statutory authority for oversight.
It establishes the Online Gaming Authority of India, tasked with deciding whether a game is a permitted e-sport/online social game or a prohibited online money game (defined as those involving monetary stakes or rewards). The Authority will also oversee registration of platforms, compliance checks, enforcement, and grievance redressal. The draft Rules operationalise this by mandating platform registration, algorithmic transparency, age verification, user safeguards, and penalties for violations. The Explanatory Note clarifies that the Act seeks to channel growth through legitimate formats like e-sports and social games, while prohibiting exploitative models that mimic gambling.
India is among the world’s fastest-growing online gaming markets, attracting youth participation and global capital. By moving from a patchwork of state laws to a central law, the PROG Act signals a digital governance shift - aiming to balance innovation, investment, and consumer safety. For policy students, it illustrates how India is designing sector-specific regulation in real time, using the Notice → Draft Rules → Draft Act → Public Feedback cycle.
Follow the full update here: Notice PDF | Draft Rules PDF | Explanatory Note PDF | PROG Act PDF