Cabinet clears Online Gaming Bill to curb betting apps: Report

According to reports, between 2022 and February 2025, the government blocked over 1,400 betting and gambling websites and apps.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Online Gaming Bill which aims to regulate online betting and money gaming platforms, according to reports.

The legislation is expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The move comes amid a surge in cases of fraud linked to online betting apps and growing concerns over celebrity and influencer endorsement of such platforms.

According to News18, the proposed legislation introduces strict provisions for penalty, punishment, and even banning of online games involving betting or gambling. Importantly, celebrities will not be allowed to endorse or promote betting-related gaming apps, with legal action planned against violators.

The bill also reportedly bars celebrities and influencers from endorsing or promoting betting-related gaming applications. Any violation of this provision will invite legal action.

According to reports, between 2022 and February 2025, the government blocked over 1,400 betting and gambling websites and apps.

A report by ET in May 2025 suggested that the government has been tightening its oversight of the sector in recent years. Since October 2023, a 28% GST has been applied to online gaming, while winnings from games are taxed at 30% from the financial year 2024–25. Even offshore gaming platforms have been brought under the tax net.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said last September that revenue from online gaming “increased by 412 per cent and reached Rs 6,909 crore in just six months… from Rs 1,349 crore before the notification issued on online gaming”. For casinos, she had said the revenue increased by 30 per cent, from Rs 164.6 crore in the six months prior to the decision to Rs 214 crore in the same period after the move.

Last year, new criminal provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita unauthorised betting was made punishable by up to seven years in jail and fines.

The Centre this month told the Supreme Court on August 5 while presenting rejoinders to the arguments presented by online gaming companies that the entire stake amount, or the ‘full face value of bet’, should be considered for taxation, as without stakes placed, the gaming entities would never supply any ‘actionable claim’, in this case betting and gambling.

India’s online gaming industry is projected to more than double to $9.1 billion by 2029, driven primarily by real-money games, according to a joint report by WinZO Games and IEIC released Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.