Months after the approval of the Online Gaming Act, 2025, the MeitY has notified the new regulatory framework for the same. The rules are set to become operational beginning May 1. Besides, the MeitY has also constituted the Online Gaming Authority of India (OGAI) under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. As per a Gazette notification issued today, the authority will serve as the regulatory body overseeing the implementation of new compliance norms for gaming platforms.
The OGAI will be chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY on an ex-officio basis. Its members will include the joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, joint secretary of the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance, joint secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, joint secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and joint secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The authority will be responsible to define games as online money games, online social games, and esports, and oversee regulation. Its powers will also extend to imposing penalties, suspending registrations, and blocking operations in cases of non-compliance.
While businesses operating in the gaming segment are not mandated to register with the authority to continue operations, OGAI can step in and review any game on its own.
However, the authority can still review and classify a game in three cases - if it takes up the matter on its own, if the game is an esports title, or if the central government notifies a specific category of social games for review.
OGAI will assess whether a game qualifies as an online money game and can issue restrictions, if required.
Mandatory registration will apply to games with large user participation, titles involving financial transactions, and games classified as high-risk. The country of origin of such games will also be considered while determining whether registration is required.
Banks, payment gateways and financial institutions will also be required to verify registration certificates or determination orders before processing payments for such platforms. They can be directed to suspend transactions for games classified as money games.
The rules also mandate safety measures like age verification, parental controls, grievance redressal, fair play monitoring, and responsible gaming safeguards. Additionally, users can first raise complaints with gaming platforms and then appeal to OGAI and further to the MeitY Secretary if needed.
The Act was first introduced and passed in the Parliament back in August 2025. It introduced a complete prohibition on online RMG and banned advertisements for such platforms.
Consequent to that, the ministry had invited feedback on these rules and received over 2,500 inputs from stakeholders.
The new norms also prohibit banks, payment gateways, and other financial institutions from facilitating transactions for such platforms. Violations can attract penalties of up to three years of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to ₹3 Cr.
The legislation officially marked the end of India's RMG ecosystem, which had raised more than $3 Bn in funding over the past decade and employed nearly 2 Lakh people.
As a result, several startups either shut down their real money gaming operations or pivoted their businesses entirely, leading to widespread layoffs. For instance, Dream11 pivoted from RMG to watch-along and fintech, while unicorns like Games 24×7 and MPL had to shut down a large chunk of their operations.