India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, a measure that would outlaw all digital games requiring players to stake money, regardless of whether the outcome is based on skill or chance. The bill, cleared by the Union Cabinet a day earlier, was introduced by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and passed by voice vote amid opposition protests. The legislation imposes a blanket ban on offering, advertising or facilitating financial transactions for real-money online games. Service providers and payment intermediaries that violate the rules would face prison terms of up to three years and fines as high as ₹1 crore (about $120,000). Celebrity promoters could be jailed for up to two years or fined up to ₹50 lakh. Players themselves would not face punishment. The government said the crackdown is needed to address rising addiction, suicides linked to gambling losses, and alleged use of gaming platforms for money laundering and terror financing. At the same time, the bill seeks to promote e-sports and non-monetised “social” games, and envisages a new national regulator to oversee the sector. Industry groups warned the measure could devastate India’s fast-growing gaming market, which generated an estimated $3.8 billion in revenue in fiscal 2023-24, including $2.4 billion from real-money play. Shares of Nazara Technologies, an investor in PokerBaazi, tumbled roughly 7-8% after the Cabinet’s approval. Unicorns such as Dream11 and Mobile Premier League also face an uncertain future, with lobbyists calling the bill a “death knell” that could drive users to unregulated offshore sites. The proposal now moves to the Rajya Sabha, where it must be passed before receiving presidential assent to become law.