With the passing of the “Promotion and Regulation of online gaming bill 2025” in the Loksabha without contest, the possibility of the Bill becoming the law in the next few days is imminent.
There is one section of the market which is lamenting that a $3.7 billion industry would be lost . The industry was expected to grow to around $9.2 billion by 2029. The extent of job losses are not clear with estimates varying anywhere between 20000 to 130000. Industry warns that there could be tax losses to the extent of Rs 20000 crores.
Over 300 companies are likely to be affected including companies like Dream11, Poker Baazi, DeltaCorp,99Games, KheloFantacy etc. Many of these companies may close down . Some would survive and use their talents to build other e-Sports facilities which would be promoted by the Bill. Some would develop social games without the betting or money component.
At the same time we need to take note that due to the presence of these online money games and betting, several instances of harm to youngsters have been recorded. Leaving aside the “Addiction” part which cannot be easily assessed, there are instances of “Suicides”, “Large financial losses” etc.
A rough collection of statistics indicate that between 2022-2025 48 suicides were recorded in Tamil Nadu, 18 in Karnataka, 20 in Telengana, 3 in Madhya Pradesh.
In financial losses, a Mumbai businessman reportedly lost Rs 12 crores in August 2025. It is estimated that India loses over Rs 23000 crores annually in betting scams.
Sharp increase of domestic violence, family breakdowns and debt have also been observed widely.
Considering these adverse effect, the Bill must be welcomed.
The Bill will be creating an E-Sports Authority which may promote e-Sports as a category,, conduct events etc. These developments could compensate the financial loss arising out of the closure of some of the companies who are today making money at the cost of the society.
Some of the Gaming companies have been enabling “Black Money holding” and “Money laundering”. The Bill will now put an end to such practices.
Hopefully Government will extend this kind of regulation to curtain Private Crypto currencies also.
Naavi
