The much-discussed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which effectively banned India’s $23-billion online money gaming industry last month, will be implemented from 1 October, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.
The rules for implementation of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023—the draft of which was published by the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) on 3 January—is also ready, and will be notified by 28 September, the minister told reporters in New Delhi. The two landmark regulations that come into force in the next two weeks are likely to set in motion a plethora of compliance requirements.
On the gaming law, Vaishnaw said Meity held consultations with the online money gaming industry after the law was passed. “We have been having discussions with them for almost the past three years, and after passing the law once again, we engaged with them. We also engaged with banks, and finalized the rules, Vaishnaw said.
“The rules will be promulgated with effect from 1 October, and before that we’ll have one more round of discussions with the industry. In case they need some more time, we will definitely look at another round of consultations,” the minister said.
A senior government official said a key concern raised during industry consultations was refunding user balances. “The government has held discussions with banks to enforce restrictions, and also with the industry to come to an understanding over a timeline within which user money is to be refunded. This should not be a major cause for delaying the implementation of the online gaming law,” the official said requesting anonymity.
The gaming law prohibits all money-based gaming operations, payments, promotions and advertisements. Industry groups warned it could wipe out 200,000 jobs and shutter 400 firms.
The official said the Centre’s assessment found this to be an inflated number. “Our assessment of direct employees in the sector was just over 2,000—and nowhere close to the 200,000 figure that was initially touted by the gaming industry,” the official said.
Following the announcement, platforms such as Dream11, Gameskraft, Games24x7, MPL, and Baazi have said they will shut down real-money operations.
Three individual appeals at Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi high courts for an injunction against the law were turned down, and all hearings related to the matter have been transferred to the Supreme Court. The gaming industry also awaits a Supreme Court verdict on tax demands from the Centre, which is expected to be announced by the top court in the coming months as well—irrespective of the law banning the sector now.
Personal data protection law
The DPDP Act has been in the making for long. A first draft of this law was introduced as Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 by a special committee chaired by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. Since then, it underwent multiple iterations and changes, as well as industry consultations with Big Tech firms, domestic conglomerates, and other stakeholders.
The Bill was finally tabled in Parliament on 3 August and received the President’s assent on 12 August, thus formally making it a law. The rules have been in limbo for some time, stalling the implementation of India’s first dedicated privacy law.
“We will first be notifying the rules of the privacy law. Following this, a broad base of frequently asked questions will be published by the Centre for easy understanding and interpretation of India’s first privacy law—the objective here is to ensure smooth and easy compliance. All tenets of the law are now ready, and barring the final paperwork and process, the rules should be notified by 28 September,” a second official added.
