Congress leader and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday sharply criticised the Centre’s proposed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, calling it a “knee-jerk blanket ban” that could cripple India’s digital gaming ecosystem.
The Bill, to be introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeks to prohibit online money gaming across states and from foreign jurisdictions, while setting up a national-level regulatory authority for the broader gaming sector.
Taking to X, Kharge described the move as another “masterstroke in bad policy making,” arguing that prohibition without stakeholder consultation would devastate revenue, jobs, startups, and investments.
“India earns ₹20,000 crore annually from GST and income tax via online real money gaming. The ban means states lose this revenue stream. Over 2,000 startups and 2 lakh jobs in IT, AI, and design are at risk. ₹23,000 crore FDI pumped in over the last five years will dry up if India shuts its own digital industry,” he wrote.
Kharge further warned of an “ecosystem collapse,” pointing out that ₹7,000 crore spent annually on advertising, data centres, sponsorships, and cybersecurity would disappear, while users would be pushed to unregulated offshore platforms worth ₹8.2 lakh crore. Such sites, he cautioned, are breeding grounds for money laundering, terror financing, and data theft, citing warnings from FATF and Rashtriya Raksha University.
He also highlighted the ongoing legal ambiguity over whether online gaming regulation falls under the Centre’s or States’ jurisdiction, noting that the matter is still before the Supreme Court.
Instead of prohibition, Kharge urged the government to pursue balanced regulation, including enforcement of IT Rules 2021, whitelisting of legitimate operators, and regulation of skill-based platforms.
“A well-balanced framework will ensure jobs, revenue, safer users, national security, and global innovation. A blanket ban, on the other hand, will only fuel illegal markets, hurt innovation, and threaten national security,” he said.
The Bill, listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha today, also seeks to regulate e-sports, educational games, and social gaming, while aiming to protect vulnerable groups from the adverse social and psychological impacts of online money games.
