Centre moves Supreme Court to transfer challenges to Online Gaming Act, hearing likely on September 8

Supreme Court

The Centre has moved the Supreme Court, seeking transfer of three petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 pending before multiple high courts.

The transfer petition was mentioned in the Supreme Court on September 4 before a bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, which has directed it to be listed on September 8. In its petition, the Centre submitted that it is imperative for these petitions to be transferred to the Supreme Court or any High Court to avoid conflicting or multiple rulings on this matter.

India's new online gaming law, which imposes a blanket-ban on real-money games, has faced three legal challenges so far, with petitions filed before the High Courts of Karnataka, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier this week, during a hearing at the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had mentioned that the government is considering moving a transfer petition for all matters to be heard together in either one of the High Courts or the Supreme Court directly, as similar challenges are already pending in the Karnataka and Delhi High Courts.

The petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court was filed by Clubboom11 Sports & Entertainment, which operates the online fantasy sports platform Boom11. Head Digital Works, which operates the online rummy platform A23 Rummy, and online carrom platform Bagheera Carrom have filed similar petitions in Karnataka High Court and Delhi High Court in the past week.

On August 30, the Karnataka High Court had stated that it will hear Head Digital Works' plea for interim relief on September 8.

The new law prohibits online money games, where a user makes a deposit, directly or indirectly, with the expectation of earning winnings on that deposit. After the Parliament nod to the bill on August 22, real-money gaming companies have suspended contests and games involving money on their platforms, though they continue to offer free-to-play options.

Several companies, including Dream11 parent Dream Sports, Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Zupee, and Pokerbaazi parent firm Moonshine Technology, have decided not to challenge the law.

These developments have also led to companies such as MPL, Pokerbaazi parent firm, and Games24x7 significantly reducing their respective staff in India.

Last month, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment in a clutch of cases dealing with both GST levied on gaming companies as well as state-level legislation which sought to ban some real-money online games. The apex court has to adjudicate the validity of GST show cause notices worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore issued to online RMG firms and casino companies, as well as challenges to laws introduced by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that had banned online games played for stakes.