Bill prohibits online money games, excludes e-sports

It seeks to create a uniform national legal framework to protect users, especially youth, from the harms of online gambling and to safeguard financial systems.

Who it concerns: The law affects all individuals, companies, and institutions involved in offering, operating, advertising, or facilitating online games. It specifically targets providers of online money games, banks and financial institutions facilitating payments for such games, and anyone offering, organizing, or facilitating online games who must comply with the new Authority's directions.

What the bill does

• Prohibits the offering, operation, facilitation, advertisement, and participation in online money games.
• Prohibits banks and financial institutions from facilitating transactions for online money gaming services.
• Establishes an 'Authority' for coordinated policy support, strategic development, and regulatory oversight of the sector.
• Empowers the Authority to determine whether a specific online game is an 'online money game' or not.
• Mandates the recognition, registration, and promotion of e-sports and online social games by the Central Government.
• Extends to the whole of India and applies to services offered within India or operated from outside India.

Also in the document

• The Bill defines 'online money game' to include games based on skill, chance, or both, where users pay fees or stakes in expectation of monetary return, excluding e-sports.
• It explicitly states that the law applies to online money gaming services operated from outside Indian territory if offered within India.
• The text provided is truncated and does not contain the full details of the 'Offences and Penalties' chapter (Chapter V), so specific penalties are not listed.