Online Gaming Act To Be Implemented From Oct 1: Ashwini Vaishnaw

SUMMARY

The government plans to undertake another round of discussions with industry players and banks before October 1 to gauge their readiness for the implementation of new rules

Passed by the Parliament last month, the online gaming Act bans all forms of online RMG, prohibits advertising of such platforms and bars financial institutions from facilitating transactions for such platforms

In the aftermath, most RMG startups have laid of employees and pivoted to new business models to comply with the new online gaming rules

Weeks after the Parliament passed the new online gaming Bill, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that the new regulations will come into effect from October 1.

“We have engaged with the industry and the banks after the passage of the bill to finalise the rules. The rules would be promulgated with effect from October 1 after another round of discussion with the industry. In case the industry needs some more time, we would look at a more consultative approach for the implementation of the new legislation,” Vaishnaw said at the pre-event conference for the upcoming AI Impact Summit 2026.

While the final rules under the proposed Act are yet to be set forth by the union government, key provisions under the bill included complete prohibition of online real money gaming (RMG) and a ban on advertising of such platforms.

The new norms also prohibit financial institutions from facilitating transactions for such platforms and propose penalties for violations, which include imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to INR 3 Cr.

It is pertinent to note that the Bill received the Cabinet assent on August 20 and was passed by both the Parliament houses within the next couple of days. At the time, the Centre cited risks such as money laundering and terror funding as the reason behind the introduction of the Bill.

The imposition of the new legislation will officially mark the end of India’s RMG ecosystem, with most players in the space already pulling the curtains on their offerings. Institutional investors had also poured more than $3 Bn, over the past decade, in the booming this ecosystem, which was valued at $4.3 Bn at its peak and employed about 2 Lakh people

To survive the regulatory blow, several leading players are pivoting to new business models. Dream11, the largest player in the space, has entered the investment tech segment with the launch of Dream Money, while others such as WinZO and Zupee are shifting towards short-form video content.

Important to note that many RMG companies are also slashing their workforce as they look for new business avenues and extend their runway. Earlier today, Gameskraft said that it laid off more than 120 employees as the impending RMG ban left it with “no choice”.

Other startups such as Games24x7, MPL, Zupee and Pokerbaazi have also retrenched their teams in the aftermath of the RMG ban.