Online Gaming Bill, 2025 passed in Rajya Sabha: 'Total annual losses pegged at ₹20,000 crore,' says Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. While tabling the Bill in the Upper House, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that around 45 crore people in India lose money on online gaming platforms.

He also said that the total annual losses due to online gaming are pegged to be around ₹20,000 crore. 

The Union Minister further said that online games are also used for money laundering and supporting terror activities against India. Vaishnaw also said that the government will act against "big people" trying to influence through media and social media. 

Earlier in the day, he emphasised the government's efforts over the past 3 years when they were "deeply engaged" with the gaming industry.

Speaking to ANI, Vaishnaw explained that the Bill's objective is to "promote and encourage the good parts" of online gaming, focusing on making India a hub of game development through institutions such as the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT). 

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill aims to promote esports and online gaming, while outlawing online money gaming. 

The Bill prohibits harmful online money gaming services, ads, and financial transactions related to them. It also aims to completely ban offering, operating or facilitating online money games, irrespective of whether based on skill, chance or both. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the NDA meeting that the Monsoon session was productive as several important bills were passed. Singling out the Online Gaming Bill, Modi called it a reform with "far-reaching impact" that would directly impact the public. 

He also criticised the Opposition for staying away from debates on major legislation. "They only remianed engaged in creating disruptions," Modi said, as per sources.