New Delhi, April 24: The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Ministry of Electronics and IT) on Wednesday notified the procedural framework required to implement the much-awaited ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act’.
The rules will come into effect from May 1 and will pave the way for the formation of an online gaming authority in the country.
Who will the rules apply to?
According to the new rules, most online games that are not real money games will not require mandatory registration, IT Secretary S. Krishnan said.
“We wanted to keep these rules as simple as possible. Social games that do not involve money transactions can operate without any obligations. The registration process for these is optional,” he explained.
Registration mandatory for e-sports
However, registration has been made mandatory for e-sports games. The e-sports category will be subject to mandatory registration as mentioned in the main Act. The Authority will intervene only in three special cases.
Firstly, the Authority will take action on its own initiative, secondly, in relation to e-sports games and thirdly, when the Central Government notifies any specific category of social games.
Priority to user safety
The new rules clearly define user safety features. The Act prohibits real money online gaming in India and aims to promote e-sports and online social gaming. The public was consulted on these rules in October 2025 and the final rules were framed after receiving around 2,500 responses. The move is expected to give a well-organized shape to the online gaming industry in India.