Author: Vidushpat Singhania

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which received Presidential assent on August 20, marks a turning point in how India regulates online gaming. For the first time, the Central Government has introduced a comprehensive national framework that seeks to promote e-sports and social games, while at the same time imposing a blanket prohibition on all forms of online money gaming. This Act is significant because it discards a principle that Indian courts have upheld for decades—the distinction between games of skill and games of chance. Under this new regime, the difference no longer matters: any game involving…